Spirit of Luna
by F13D
Summary: After stopping Balak, a new adventure begins. Shepard and his team will encounter new friends and enemies as they race to stop the Reaper's cycle of extinction. Will they succeed, or will they fall like the many cycles before them? Mass Effect A/U
1. Chapter 1 - Timeline

Disclaimer: I do not own bioware and/or any work published by them

A/N: this is A/U and will differences compared to the game some big, some small

WARNING: IF YOU HAVE NOT READ HEART OF SOL, I URGE TO READ IT AS THSI FIC WILL HAVE REFERENCES TO IT AND FOLLOW THE EVENTS THAT OCCURED AFTER Heart of Sol

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Official Alliance Timeline.

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1967: U.S launches the first man to the moon and discovers ancient alien ruins maintain by a program called a "VI" with a warning to not rely on technology run by a fuel source called element zero. The ruins also contain blueprints to technology independent of element zero such as thorium based reactors and rail guns.

1968: The news of the discovery is released to the press, however the warning embedded inside is only released to top priority governments and kept as a closely guarded secret. Mankind was astonished and were deeply afraid. With the paranoia of the cold war and the social psyche of extra-terrestrial attack, many called for a massive military buildup, however over time this feeling became less and less extreme. The attitude of Earth was 'its us vs. them.'

1969: After 2 years of development the first-world countries of Earth celebrate the end on the reliance of fossil fuels and thorium is the new fuel source.

1975: The terraforming pod is created by a joint British/American/Japanese effort after extensive research. The project is totaled to cost 3.2 trillion dollars.

1978: Soviet Union creates the first space ship measuring at 112 meters, using information gathered from the data archives. It is plan to land the first settlers on the moon.

1979: NATO creates their own version of a ship measuring at 65 meters, but it contains a VI program to help maintain and run the ship.

1981: A new cold war begins with the majority of the world falling into 1 of 2 camps America's lead NATO or the Soviet Union dominated Warsaw Pact.

1984: British, American, and French scientist create the world's first ever successful worm hole teleportation of an object, in laboratory settings. In theory it should be able to speed up space travel. Already rovers are transported to planets like Mars, which merely take days.

1985: Mining Asteroids, by using rovers, has become the most environmental friendly and most profitable method for nations to keep the arm race going. One Asteroid contains more gold and platinum than Earth.

1987: The U.S creates a ship-mountable rail gun cannon delivering a force of 55 kilotons of fire power. Few months later the Soviet Union unveils it's particle accelerator cannon with a force of 10 kilotons, however it is smaller, requires less power, and gives off less heat

1990: The world's first AI is created by General Atomics. The initial reaction of humanity was fear and protest due to a phobia of a robotic rebellion. However, these feelings were quelled once General Atomics stated and provided information that explained the many safety features in an AI to avoid such a scenario.

1991: The, Soviet Union collapses. All the former Union states become independent, however they maintain close relations with Russia. Their economies are still twined together strongly.

1992: All superpowers of Earth and their colonies on Luna, Venus, Mars, and Europa unite under the Systems Alliance banner and pool all of their military might into one super-military with 128 space-capable vessels, after a strange artifact is found orbiting Pluto. Though this is done for the sake of self-preservation as opposed to mutual trust.

1993: Tampering with the artifact now dubbed "Mass Relay", once information was gathered on the device in the prothean archives, is forbidden following a scientific vessel being destroyed by the Relay. Scientists hypothesis that because we do no use element zero, which the artifact is found to run on, it identifies us or any of our vessels as foreign unknowns.

1996: Probes fueled by element zero are flown to the mass relay and a discovery is made. It is an instantaneous method of FTL drive and leads to many garden worlds. This leads to a new race to claim as many garden worlds or any, able to be terraformed as possible.

1997: The world's fist ever worm hole drive is created. All Alliance vessels are ordered to have one equipped and many have already undergone retrofits to be able to have a worm-hole drive installed.

1998: The systems alliance adopts the Bore Doctrine, which is to use probes to find garden worlds and send back it's coordinates, use remote detonation nuclear mines to guard all known relays, and have at least 60 super rail gun platform cannons firing a 112 kiloton of firepower every 34 seconds. The installation of such defense platforms cause settlers and surveyors to delay travel to new-found worlds by at least 4 years.

2006: The system alliance fleet creates it's first battle cruiser, the SSV Nile measuring at 1 kilometer long and it is the current flagship of the third fleet. It is the first ever vessel to field test a thermo-nuclear reactor as a main engine. The Alliance has been looking for ways to replace the aging Thorium powered engine as it is slow, cost inefficient, and constant maintenance with a better space vessel engine that can operate better in all these categories.

2025: It is now mandatory for all schools to teach basic medical, and survival training at a safe and reasonable standard in each grade. Its more of a boy scouts training than 'military training' as some have put it.

2029: Deeming all AI's as valuable resources, they are only equipped in military and science vessels. VIs are used for civilian purposes.

2057: The System Alliance creates a cloak projector enabling anything within a certain radius invisible. It has only been able to cloak corvette size vessels (55 - 128 m)

2072: Pirates steal several frigate class vessels from a lightly guarded alliance ship-yard and use it to raid shipping freighters, which cause the alliance navy is tested.

2078: Pirates deal a crushing blow to the Alliance navy, destroying 1 battle cruiser, 19 cruisers, and 48 frigates after luring them into a minefield and ambushed them. The pirates suffered minimal casualties with 7 cruisers, 8 destroyers, and 24 frigates lost.

2083: The Alliance deploys a Titan team to an Asteroid dubbed LB-429, where Alliance military officials predict there to be a massive pirate base. After destruction of the Asteroid was successful, the Titans deployed reveal many other pirate bases with the information gathered. The Alliance navy goes on the offensive.

2089: The Alliance launch an all-out assault on the pirate's headquarters. With the pirates finally defeated, new naval tactics and weaponry is created.

2091: The system alliance navy turns to 20th century tactics and create it's first super-carrier measuring at 4.5 km, the same size as a Defender-class dreadnought, and along-side the Shield of Sol dreadnought, leads the 12th fleet

2122: System alliance creates the 14th fleet and is the first ever to only have all of the fleets prowlers, frigates, and some destroyers to be remotely-piloted, though they do require a skeleton crew to maintain the ships.

2148: Shanxi and it's relay is discovered and quickly inhabited. Construction of the nuclear mines and rail-gun platforms begins.

2157: First contact with the Turian Hierarchy and the Batarian Hegemony. Contact with the Turians is friendly, while contact with the Batarians is not. A fight between the Hegemony and the System Alliance starts, as Batarian slavers believed contact with the new race would bring easy slaves. They were repelled and killed. Later that same year the System Alliance makes contact with the Citadel.

2170: Batarians slavers nuke the colony world of Mindoir, prompting the Alliance to construct heavy defenses in the Attican Traverse to repel any slavers.

2176: The Asari colony world Elysium is attacked by Batarian slavers. The attack is repelled thanks to the efforts of Spectres, Titans, and civilians who bravely fought to defend the world. Following the attack, the Asari give the Alliance Elysium for their efforts in repelling the attack and also to avoid criticism. Obviously this was a ploy to have the Alliance take the brunt of the pirate attacks, which they are well aware of.

2177: A Batarian terrorist attack wipes the colony world of Akuze. Only three survivors managed to make it off planet.

2178: The Alliance funds a new mercenary group called the Red Hand to attack Batarian interest in the Terminus systems. Their first mission on Torfan was considered a success.

2183: The start of the Terminus-Citadel war. A batarian named Balak leads a rouge army of Batarians and never before seen versions of the Geth against the joint Citadel army. After two months of fighting, Balak is confirmed killed in the massive assault on Eden Prime and without a leader his rouge army surrenders. The discovery of live Protheans shocked the galaxy as many believed them dead. Liara T'soni is is credited with finding the Protheans and their history. The existence of the Reapers is tightly concealed by the Council to avoid a public panic, however ship production has sky rocketed. In other news the Volus have been granted a Council seata and Ambassador Din Korlack is elected to the position of Councilor for the Volus protectorate.

2184: Fearing the return of the Reapers, the Council begins assembling a team consisting of the deadliest operatives in the galaxy. Prothean General Morak is currently overseeing their training.


	2. Chapter 2 - New faces

12-31-2183 1139 hours (Citadel standard time)

**Undisclosed Location**

Shepard's bones ached and throbbed from the intense workout. He could feel the veins on his knees popping. His spine felt as if it was being crushed and his entire body screamed for rest. His eyelids were heavier than they'd ever been. He looked to his right and saw that Ramirez felt they same way.

When they had arrived two months earlier they were told they would be prepared to fight the greatest threat to the galaxy. Of course many that were gathered in the court-yard thought of the Reapers, others like the huge Krogan that who knows where they got him from seemed as if they just wanted to fight. After the speech given by Morak, the Prothean general he told them to go to their barracks to rest.

And that's how Shepard ended up fighting a Prothean in hand to hand combat and it had only been two hours.

Their primary physical exercise, combat training, and military classes was all personally selected by General Morak. He told the top military officials that in eight months they would go from a rag-tag group of some of the deadliest in the galaxy to the most deadliest team in the galaxy.

"Remember! Each of you is dangerous alone, but together you are deadly." General Morak told them as they started to run and try to capture a flag on General Morak's personal Jaguar. Each time a member would get close, he would accelerate the vehicle and leave them in the dust. This usually continued until one of the team would collapse. In short , General Morak was the devil to each to the operatives.

General Morak told them that the next eight months would be a living hell, so fighting the Reapers wouldn't be. And at this rate General Morak seemed to be right. What made it even worse was that this exercise was considered easy by General Morak's standards. It seemed only Javik was the one most able to handle the rigorous exercises.

After another six hours of exercises the General allowed them to get food at the mess hall. Immediately Shepard and Ramirez ran to be the first ones in line.

Of course this wasn't the case as the large Krogan simply walked in front or more likely shoved the two Titans out of the way.

"Hey we were here first." Ramirez said in protest.

"You were." The Krogan, whose name was Grunt, told Ramirez.

"Listen pal-" Ramirez began before he was lifted into the air and shoved right next to the food.

"I should kill you right now. If you are strong then you would provide an excellent challenge."

Shepard cut between them in hopes of diffusing the volatile situation. "Look we don't need any infighting. If you want Grunt you can cut in front of us. I'm sure Ramirez won't mind would you?" Shepard asked Ramirez.

With a scowl on his face, Ramirez replied "No I won't."

Grunt got his food and sat down on a table. Ramirez and Shepard got their own food and sat as far as away from Grunt as they could. They were soon joined by the rest of the old Normandy crew.

"That was interesting to watch." Garrus told the team as he sat down with his food.

"Interesting isn't the word I would use." Ramirez said with venom. He glare at the Krogan from afar.

"Lucky for you Captain Shepard was there to save you." Kaidan teased Ramirez.

"I didn't need any saving!" Ramirez basically yelled, earning him a few looks. Noticing the attention he had gotten, he said "Whatever I'm eating in my room."

'His' room was actually his and Shepard's and the team noticed how Ramirez said it almost with spite.

"Sorry Shepard didn't mean to get him upset." Kaidan apologized.

"Don't worry about it Kaidan. He's just upset that's all." Shepard told him.

"Yes, but even after two months. I would have figured that he would have been over Daro by now." Nyreen said.

"C'mon let's talk about something else guys." Shepard said trying to change the subject.

Suddenly the new arrivals showed and an also sat on the table. Shepard had met each one and was on friendly terms with each one and mentally went down the list of the new recruits.

Miranda Lawson was the powerful biotic and deemed 'perfect woman' by most men on the ground team. Often times they would sneak looks at her curves and that made the women in the group quite jealous. She was the daughter of the famous Hendry Lawson, who was the owner of Law Technologies and was an immense supplier of weapons and armor exclusively for the Alliance. She was similar to her father in terms of ambition, high standards for others, and always expecting to get the job done.

Jacob Taylor was an ex-Alliance A.C.S trooper. Having served deployments on Torfan, Chilium, and fought on Eden Prime during the second assault. His team was responsible for seizing the Capital. It was said it would take two weeks to take the capital, Jacob and his team did re-took it in two days. He even managed to stop a Batarian terrorist attack on the Council, earning him praise from every government.

Zaeed Massani was a life-long trooper turned mercenary. Other than being the most ruthless and badass mercenary there is, he was a simple guy to get along with so long as you don't do something stupid.

Thane Krios. The infamous drell assassin. If you ever saw him, chances are he would be the last thing you would ever see. Not much is known about him, but what is scares the shit out of the regular Cerberus personal. There were rumors that he personally assassinated Gorv Hign, the ex-ruler of the Batarian Hegemony.

Samara, an Asari justicar. Her biotics were some of the strongest Shepard had ever seen. He didn't think that anyone could ever beat her without using clever tactics and probably using her own code against her. She reminded Shepard a lot like Thane, though a more black and white version of him. She had a strong moral compass, so it would be best not to be deceitful when she's around.

Jack a strong biotic with a temper. She was an ex-Ascension teacher at the Grissom academy. While her methods for teaching were 'unethical' no student of hers ever failed the yearly B.T.C (Biotics Training and Certification) test. She even had tattoos on her and wore even more questionable clothing than Miranda.

Javik the commanding officer to the Prothean field army. Little is known about him as he hardly socializes with anyone aside with Grunt who seemed to have a sense of personal respect for each other.

Mordin Solus, brilliant Salarian scientist, ex-STG member, and all around walking galactic encyclopedia. When he starts talking everyone pays attention as he usually has crucial information to say. He is the teams field medic and scientist and coordinates all medical efforts with Dr. Chakwas. A valid warning would be never to get on his bad side. Currently he sat with Grunt at the other table.

Grunt, the perfect Krogan super soldier. Personally tank-bred by Okeer on Tuchanka. He reminded Shepard of a younger, angrier, more reckless version of Wrex. Slightly shorter than most typical Krogan Grunt made up for this with above average intellect and immense strength. Ever since the training began he and Ramirez had been constantly at odds with each other, though it seemed Ramirez was more at odds with him than Grunt was with Ramirez.

Sitting on Grunt's left was Legion, an actual friendly Geth. How Cerberus ever managed to acquire a live Geth he would never know and probably never won't want to. He or it, Shepard supposed was extremely intelligent, second-only to Mordin and the two along with EDI, the Normandy's new AI.

Originally Joker was upset at having to leave to the Normandy, and by upset Shepard meant absolutely crazed. After refusing to leave the Normandy, Cerberus personal were forced to yank the pilot chair off the cock pit with Joker on it. He responded by yelling profanities at them, and if Shepard was honest it was quite comical. Even Ramirez seemed to get a good laugh.

Finally there was Kasumi, the galaxy's most efficient thief and self-proclaimed best there is. Looking around Shepard noticed that she wasn't around. Shepard assumed she was cloaked as she normally is and would reveal herself if she wanted to be seen, which was hardly never. This did cause some form of paranoia and caused many people to lock their doors for the good it did.

"Good afternoon, everyone," a deep, calm voice echoed from the doorway, and they turned to face the dark shadow that revealed General Morak. He wore the dark crimson uniform that Javik wore. "I'm pleased at how far you've come and as such I will ensure that you are pushed to your limits from here on out. You will give me a hundred percent each day or none at all, am I understood?"

"Yes, sir," they all immediately answered. Standing up straight and saluting the General.

"Welcome to your new family and you will no longer have dual rooms as you will no longer be living on the base's barracks."

The news caused murmurs to circulate among the crew members. With a hand, General Morak silence them. "You will no longer be living in the barracks as you will now live in your new home a ship in order to prepare yourselves to the environment you will experience. If you will please follow me."

As they all filed out, General Morak ordered a Cerberus guard to find Ramirez and inform him of the news.

They came upon a hangar deck and everyone was stunned to see the corvette, if it was a corvette, docked. It was a beauty, retaining the old Normandy's design, but incorporating added features such as improved broad side cannons and thicker armor. Its size was noteworthy as well. Shepard guess its length was over 320 meters about twice larger than the original Normandy.

Motioning to the grand ship that stood before them, Morak said "This is your new home and transportation. Make sure to treat her well, now let's see the inside."

Stepping inside, they were amazed by the immense technology and engineering put into the vessel. The room was illuminated by orange lights that seemed to display the ships as a piece of art not a war machine.

"Keep in mind that until your training is complete, the ship's AI has strict orders not to fly and many security measures have been put into place in order to avoid any accidental lift-offs. So for your sake I hope there is none." Morak warned the team.

Ashley spoke up and asked "Is there a specific place where you want us to drop off our gear?"

General Morak replied "That has already been taken care of, however we will visit your quarters first so that you may be acquainted with the rooms." Leading them he said "Follow me." He led them through a maze of hallways and decks further along the ship and had to take an elevator to reach their destination. Some of the hallways had windows, others had steel and titanium panels, cold and unfeeling. Morak talked about the various schematics of the ship, how many personal were onboard the ship, their various facilities, etc.

"These will be your personal quarters for the duration of your stay," Morak beckoned to the doors. "Your names are temporarily posted on the door of your assigned rooms, and each one is meant of house one occupant." he explained.  
Morak then gathered them up again like cattle and lead them down the ship. As they traverse deeper and deeper into the ship, there was an absence of windows. They passed by the training room, the gym, the mess hall, and a swimming pool. Mordin stared at the equipment surrounding the ships was very anxious to get to work immediately.

They were finally lead to a dark room with desks, with four chairs apiece that faced towards a large projector board. Morak instructed them to take a seat and they all did as ordered.

Miranda sat upfront with Mordin and Legion. Ramirez moved towards an empty seat, followed by Kasumi who sat next to him. Grunt and Zaeed at in the back. Garrus sat next to Shepard, Jacob, and Kaidan after Ashley and Liara had taken seats next to Nyreen. Thane and Samara took seats in the middle row next to each other. Jack and Javik each took their own separate seats.

Once they were all seated, Morak said to them "As most of you know, there is a great threat to this galaxy and each of you has been chosen for your unique talents and abilities. Most of you are the finest soldiers that I've ever seen, others of you are experts in your fields that many both respect and fear you. There will be numerous tasks and missions given to you and as such there is a real possibility that some of you may not survive." Morak paused, letting the severity of his words sink in to the team. Each one came to the same conclusion and accepted the risks in order to insure the survival of every race out there.

"There is no excuse for poor performance in the project and I hope I never have to remind you of that," Morak continued strictly. "As said before you will try your best with everything you do here. Now before you are dismissed, there is still sunlight left so we will continue with our exercises."

"Yes sir!" voices rang through the class room, and they stood and filed out the door towards where they came and proceeded to walk off the Normandy, except for Joker, and they began running laps.

The rest of the day was spent in rigorous exercise. What time wasn't spent running, working out, performing acrobatics, much to the discomfort of Grunt, was spent under the ever becoming louder voice of Morak and his Colonel Hik. Morak reminded them constantly that the training would only get harder as time progressed.

Four hours, until the moon was high in the sky, the team worked harder and harder pushing their limits. Once they were dismissed, they limped towards their barracks and it only took seconds for each of them to fall asleep, well for Grunt it took minutes.

"Well….they're doing better than expected." Came the voice of the Illusive man as he reviewed the training footage of the team.

The team worked together constantly helping each other as a team, they progressed. He saw it only took forty-five seconds for them to execute a plan of attack and defeat the regular Cerberus troops.

"Yes, but they have much to learn. They must entrust in each other with their lives if they are to succeed." said General Morak through a terminal.

"Don't worry with Shepard as their leader, I believe they could do anything." The Illusive man took a puff of his cigar.

"Perhaps, however at this rate I believe they will be ready earlier than expected."

"By how much?"

"Two months earlier or less, depending how much each member of the team contributes. I believe I must inform you that the soldier they call Ramirez is not performing at optimal performance."

"Ah yes. Woman issues I believe. Not to worry, being surrounded by woman eventually he will have a relationship with one and he'll be back to normal."

"I hope you are right."

"I am. Keep me posted." With that the Illusive logged off, leaving Morak in the darkness.

"Stupid primitives. Why can't they be more like the salarians and keep their sexual urges under control?" Morak questioned to no one in particular.

He then walked to his own quarters, thinking that if he doesn't prepare the team for what's to come they are all doom. With the thoughts in mind he fell asleep in his bed.


	3. Chapter 3 - Assessment

2-3-2184 0944 hours (Citadel standard time)

**Undisclosed Location**

"Is this what the best human soldier can accomplish? Pathetic if the answer is yes." Morak told Shepard, as the team struggled to lift Grunt.

The day started as any other day get breakfast then train until lunchtime and continue training again until dinner and the cycle was repeated every day. However, Morak had a tough exercise which was to carry Grunt, as if he had been wounded and needed medical attention, all the way to the top of a mountain ten miles high and they had only gone half a mile. It was hell plain and simple.

Ramirez, Kasumi, Nyreen, and Shepard got the front half of Grunt, while Zaeed, Kaidan, Garrus, and Ashley got his legs. Javik, Liara, Samara, Garrus got the center and Miranda, Jack, Mordin, Thane, and Legion got the sides. Even with the whole team picking him up it was brutal.

Morak singled out Ramirez and Shepard because they showed qualities of being leaders as shown through their hunt with Balak.

Titans were simply put the best Alliance had to offer. They training were meant to break most men so the ones that were left were above and beyond humankind. While Titans aren't augmented, their bodies were engineered to push the human body to the pinnacle of physical perfection.

The Titans operated in almost every Alliance conflict since their creation. While their numbers have been declassified, their training, equipment, and missions have not been and possibly never will be. Titans were the tip of the spear in the 'pirate wars' during the early time of human colonization. They played a pivotal role in the Terminus-Council war as the conflict had been named by Citadel media. Titans were heralded as unbeatable, indestructible, and deadly warriors of human kind. However, for all their bravery and skill Titans were still human and as such had the same internal and external issues as any other being.

It was these qualities that made Morak push Ramirez and Shepard harder than anyone else and it was easily noticeable. "Come on is this how much effort you two are going to put into rescuing a fellow member?" Morak questioned the Titans.

_'Not like a Krogan will ever need assistance.' _Ramirez thought as he struggled to keep Grunt over his shoulder.

They continued for about five hours nonstop carrying Grunt, who had fallen asleep a couple of times. When they reached the top of the mountain, everyone on the team let go of him.

Hitting the rocky surface, Grunt awoke to see they had reached the top of the mountain. "I was starting to doubt we would ever reach the top." Grunt said.

Breathing heavily and having his hands on his knees as he was bent slightly over, Ramirez said "Its…n-no…t….easy…run..ning….with….Krogan….as…weight." Ramirez then fell back on the ground letting the refreshing air hit his sweaty face.

A moment later Morak handed the team food and water, each member drinking at least a gallon of water. The outdoor lunch continued for about 45 minutes as they took their hard earned rest.

"Atten-shun!" Morak shouted, and everyone immediately snapped to attention. "You have performed at stellar standards and as such I believe you have earned the right to now start training as a team."

Looking at each of them, Morak said "From now on you are no longer an individual, but a team and will held accountable as such. Any successes or failures will be shared by everyone regardless of whose fault it is and that goes the same for punishments. Am I clear?" he shouted at them.

"Sir, yes sir!" They said in unison, though some were not as emotional as others.

"Hik bring the carriage out." Morak ordered his Colonel.

The team turned to see Hink, along with other Cerberus soldiers pushing a carriage.

Morak then said "Now we will be heading down to the mess hall only this time its going to be different. Everyone will seat in the carriage, while Grunt pulls it."

"WHAT?!" Grunt yelled. Sure he was a Krogan, probably the strongest there was, but eve he could pull a carriage filled with passengers. His mouth was left agape.

The others, having carried him up the mountain, did not shared his concern and piled in the carriage taking their seats.

As Ramirez was about to set foot inside the carriage, he felt a hand grab his shoulder from behind. He turned to see Shepard giving him a stare. "What?" he asked him.

Shepard answered "You know what. Grunt can't pull the entire carriage by himself."

"So how is it my problem?"

"We are a team Ramirez. Now c'mon and lets help him."

"But-" Ramirez tried protesting, but Shepard interrupted him.

"Now, we are a team and right now one of our team members needs help. Just because someone hurt you doesn't mean you have to let that be taken out on someone else. " He told Ramirez, who along with Garrus, walked to the front where Grunt was struggling to make the carriage move.

The carriage had ropes in which to pull the carriage, however one lone Krogan, no matter how strong, would ever be able to move it with the current weight it had. That's why Ramirez, Garrus, and Shepard each got a separate rope and together with Grunt pulled as hard as they could.

Seeing Ramirez attempt to help him, Grunt grunted "Didn't think you of all people would want to help me."

With a light smirk Ramirez said "Just because I dislike you, doesn't mean I'm going to let you suffer alone. We are part of a team and as a team we each have to look for each other's backs. I forgot that, but thankfully someone made me remember." Ramirez said giving a nod and a smile to Shepard.

Together the four toughest males pushed the cart and slowly managed to move it. Slowly the wheels on the carriage turned and began moving at a decent pace. After about 15 minutes it started raining, which would make swampy terrain near the bottom of the mountain.

"Perfect, just what we needed." Ramirez complained, as what felt like a monsoon poured down his body.

"C'mon we just need to work together." Shepard encouraged them.

"Right now might be a good time to remind you Shepard that Turians can't swim, so if we have to cross a river no amount of brotherhood will get me to set foot in it." Garrus told Shepard.

"You can't fly or swim. What good are you turians anyway?" Grunt asked as he pulled the carriage.

"Apparently for helping Krogan pull carriages." Garrus retorted.

"HA! You got a spine Turian. I respect that."

As a consequence of their 'exercise' many of the females were immensely enjoying watching the men pull as it showed their muscles and well tone bodies out in the open.

"Come on!" Morak advised. "You don't want to disappoint your team!" Seeing the slow progress they have made.

For another hour of the run down hill, everything was normal as their constant training could count as, but soon their luck began running out as their own stamina began running low.

"Why are we slowing down?" Came the deep voice of Colonel Hik.

"Come on, we have to speed up." Shepard hurriedly said to his team.

Amazingly they were able to hear him over the sound of their own rasping, wheezing lungs. With a nod of each of their own heads, they began pulling harder than last time. However, they couldn't keep it up much longer.

Finally after about a half hour, Ramirez and Garrus fell on all fours. Exhausted, their lungs screamed for air and their bodies burned like the fires of hell. Shepard was getting dizzy and didn't feel much other than numbness. Even Grunt was on his knees, sweating and breathing heavily for air.

"Why have we stopped? Did I order you to stop?" Morak questioned them. When they gave no answer either from not being able to waste oxygen speaking or because they hadn't heard him, Morak ordered Hik to bring out the weights.

Now Shepard, Ramirez, Garrus, and Grunt had an extra fifty pounds of their back. Seeing their exhausted teammates have to carry an additional load, everyone on the carriage got out and walked over to the four upfront. After fifteen minutes, everyone pulled with all their might and soon their fast walk became a fast jog as there was less weight in the carriage and more people pulling it.

After three hours had passed all of the Normandy's team had made down the mountain. Each of them were sweaty, tired, and in possession of sore backs. When the Normandy crew had reached the mess hall, and ended their run, Morak ordered everyone into attention. The heavy breathing from the Normandy crew was thankfully ignored by him.

Shepard, sweat pouring down his face, and his lungs burning both through the need for more oxygen, and the simple exertion of expanding and compressing them as much and as fast as he did, awaited what Morak had to say.

"Tomorrow you will be tested on your abilities to adapt to a situation. A series of tests will show you your weaknesses and strengths. I encourage you to be prepared for the next day. You have until 0900 hours to rest make good use of it." Morak then walked out of the mess hall.

There was a immense sigh of relief from the crew as they heard his words. "Finally it seems…. four-eyes ha…..s given us… a break." Jack said as she sat on a table stool hunched over in exhaustion.

"Let's just hope insulting him will result in having to do more work." Jacob said with a serious tone.

"I believe the general has our best interest at heart despite his seemingly cruel exterior." Samara wisely responded.

'I agree. A knife is only as strong as the one who wields it." Thane added.

"General Morak is responsible for our kind still being alive today. If anyone has the right to ask more of us it'd be him." Javik said.

"His ability to command is very similar in nature to Shepard's, but not in practice. By forcing us to carry the carriage, Morak made sure we each worked as team in order to gain experience to work with each other. All of these different personalities brought together normally results in a feud, yet Morak has been able to not only to keep that from happening, but also make this unorthodox team work together. Would enjoy studying Prothean culture." Mordin said extremely quickly. Everyone, except for Thane and Samara, looked at him quizzically.

Seeing their curiosity, he asked "What's wrong? Is there something on my face? Possibly sweat. No unlikely. Sweat would-" Before he could continue, Shepard stopped him.

"What they mean is how are you able to speak quickly without making any mistakes." He asked Mordin.

"Ah. Well Salarian metabolism allows us to speak and think faster than other races." he said with pride.

"So like an organic super computer?" Kasumi asked.

"In its simplest terms I suppose." Mordin answered.

"Well any way tomorrow we have a long day ahead of us. Make sure you each get some rest." Shepard ordered the team. Eventually they each made their ways towards their rooms.

Ramirez, however decided to go towards the showers to get rid of the strong odor from his body.

As he stepped into the males shower and felt in the cool water run down his back, healing his sore muscles he failed to notice a shimmer in the air behind him.

Kasumi stared as Ramirez showered. His lower body was covered, but his upper body was completely exposed. She swallowed as she watched his well toned body, water dripping down. Though she wouldn't admit it to anyone else, she had a huge crush on Ramirez. Well, maybe a little more than that since she had been spying on him for a while now. Each time Ramirez would enter a room, Kasumi could feel his presence.

Despite her strong feelings for him, she didn't approach him for fear of him not sharing the same feelings. It was common knowledge that Ramirez used to be in a relationship with a former female ship-mate and from what she heard hadn't ended well. She wondered what it would feel like to have a man like him wrap her arms around her. She shivered at the thought and turning to see Ramirez finishing his shower, decided to give him some privacy and silently walked towards her room. On her way there, Kasumi decided she would continue to monitor Ramirez.

_'I wonder if maybe he would be interested in doing things with me…as ship-mates of course.'_ Kasumi thought.

**Next Day **

"Here we are," the Colonel intoned, turning to face the team as the group followed him and Morak into the room. Immediately Garrus's attention slipped to the sets of armor, gleaming metal suits looking like nothing he had ever seen before. Certainly nothing like what the regular C-Sec had access to. It seemed to of spectre quality. He noticed the majority of the group was also staring at them in varying degrees of awe.

After a moment, the Colonel cleared his throat, pulling back the attention. "As I'm sure you can see, we have the top of the line in technology reserved just for you," he said, clearly finding some level of pride in his financial work. "Beside each armor is a data pad that will tell you the strengths and weaknesses of each type of armor."

With that said, the Colonel stepped aside. After a short tentative pause to be sure they were really allowing it, the group went towards the armor with Ramirez and Garrus eagerly hurrying at the head, Shepard and Nyreen tailing. Each member reviewed their armor and after much debate selected their own. Ramirez chose the one on the far right, which was apparently an upgraded version of Titan armor that he wore. Garrus stood before a set of blue turian armor that provided improved protection without sacrificing mobility. Kasumi and Miranda each chose skin tight, yet flexible, cat suits that brought out their curves. Kaidan, Zaeed, Jacob, and Ashley each chose the newer Alliance trooper armor currently in service. Jack headed for a set of black armor, Thane chose A.C.S armor that would allow him to be an even deadlier assassin. Samara decided to keep her justicar outfit as a sign of respect towards her code. Javik did something similar, choosing to keep his Prothean armor. Nyreen chose medium-weight turian armor, while Liara and Mordin each chose lab-coats that provided a sense of disguise and increased protection.

"Now, the next area we are headed to is the weapons' armory. Naturally, as a combat team, weapons are going to be a common part of the missions and you must be familiar with the tools you use." Morak said.

As he said this, he stood by a doorway leading into the adjacent room, awaiting the team. Shepard typically led the way, motioning the rest to follow him. As they entered, Garrus realized that this was a smaller room with four long tables in the middle. Each had a wide assortment of guns from pistols to missile launchers. All in all it was a candy shop for Garrus, guns gleaming, polished and ready for action.

"As I'm aware that most of you have a history in the military, I doubt I need to explain to every individual here how to use firearms. Instead, all of you take a few moments to familiarize yourself with them, deciding which you prefer for missions." The Colonel explained, gesturign towards the weapons.

This time, the hesitation was much shorter as most of the group bustled over, eager to sort through the weapons. Many of them gave the pistols and submachine guns appraising glances, trying to decide which weapon would be their favorite or which might save their lives in a tough situation. Ramirez grabbed a MX rail gun carbine approvingly same as Shepard, while Garrus grabbed the new black widow sniper rifle. Grunt grinned at the wickedly-gleaming barracuda shot gun, picking it up he laughed almost creepily earning him a few concerned looks.

Mordin, Kasumi, Liara, and Miranda each chose a pistol and submachine gun of varying models. They preferred speed and agility over raw power. Jack and Jacob each gripped a shot gun. Jacob's was the Alliance issued , while Jack's was the Citadel-violated designed Ervicator

Legion, Ashley, Thane, and Zaeed each equipped sniper rifles. Their secondary weapons differed, Ashley and Zaeed took assault rifles, while Legion and Thane took SMGs.

Nyreen, Kaidan, Javik each took an assault rifle. Offering excellent accuracy and minimal recoil, Nyreen equipped the Turian designed Phaoestan assault rifle. Kaidan grabbed an ACR4 rail gun assault rifle and the M283 S.A.W he was used to. Javik, ironically, grabbed the Tesla rifle, standard issue to Alliance O. .

After several minutes of this, the Colonel stepped forward. "I trust all of you have made your choice of weapon preference? Regardless, we're running out of time so you all must relinquish them."

Anticipating the few groans of protest, he continued. "I must insist. The weapons cannot leave this room for your safety and everyone else's," As he said this, the Colonel eyed Grunt. He probably meant to say, I don't trust a large Krogan with a large shot gun in a close quarters environment.

Before they could leave however, Morak stopped. "No, Colonel I believe they are ready for the test."

Colonel Hik was about to protest, however Morak gave him a look and Hik stepped aside letting Morak take control.

Morak then explained the training exercise he had in mind. "As I mentioned yesterday, this will the first of a series of many tests. In this training room, there are thirty Cerberus soldiers patrolling. Your objective is to eliminate the threat of the soldiers. Pillars, barricades, and various other obstacles will be used in order to provide cover. Your are to eliminate them as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Are there any questions?"

Nyreen saw Shepard ask "What are the guards equipped with?"

This time, it was the Colonel's turn to speak. "They are equipped with standard issued firearms, grenades, and armor. Do not worry all ammunition is rubber, with the exception of the grenade which instead uses paint."  
Ashley spoke next "Are we able to take any weapons and equipment with us?"

Before the Colonel could answer, the General spoke. "You will use the weapons you have selected earlier. I hope I don't have to warn any of you avoid being hit?"

He looked around the room, into the impassive eyes of the assembled team. Silence filled the room for a moment, until the General appeared to grudgingly accept that his point had been made. "Excellent! Ingenuity, originality, and resourcefulness will be heavily praised in this test. Is there anything else?"

When no one spoke up, he continued. "Very well. Let's begin. Garrus Vakarian you are up first."

Everything seemed to happen fast, Nyreen reflected. Right now, Garrus had been designated with starting the exercise.

Thirty white-armored men were scoping out the training floor, complete with various obstacles providing cover. Garrus had situated himself a bit to the left of all of them, preventing himself from getting caught in the center.

_'Time matters here.' _Garrus thought as he viewed a target from his scope.

Nryeen shifted slightly, all of a sudden feeling a bit uncomfortable. She was leaning against a window of the observation deck, to get a better look at the fight. Shen knew Garrus could handle himself, but that did little to reassure her.

A shot rang throughout the room grabbing her attention. She moved so she could get a better position and saw Garrus had made his move.

One pair of troopers had been left pinned to each other through Garrus's firing as he managed to take a squad. The shots fired from his sniper rifle almost hit the troopers simultaneously. While she may not have been paying much attention, the sight of Garrus expertly navigating a war zone gave her a reason to.

Ten soldiers rushed to their fallen comrades, bad move. Garrus was already moving far behind them, dashing between the blocks quickly and making sure he only moved when they weren't looking in his direction.

Now the ten were lined up in a neat little row, perfect arrangement as even a competent sniper could take out a platoon of men if they were arranged in such a fashion.

Ten shots were fired before any of them could take more than a step. Ten shots, and three soldiers went down in near-sync.

"Damn he is good," Jacob said cheerfully next to Nyreen. Others in the team agreed at his analysis.

One squad of Cerberus soldiers desperately tried to run to the nearest cover, tripping over a fallen soldier on the way and was shot in the torso before he could hit the ground.

The last two Garrus toyed with. Purposely allowing himself to be seen in one area, only to sneak halfway across the room to be seen again, before playing the same trick. He was showing off his speed and awareness on the battle field. The two sole remaining soldiers were panicking and yelling until he finally put them out of their misery and ended the match with two quick shots.

The match had lasted seven minutes, but Nyreen got the impression that he could've halved that time had he felt the need.

"Round over," The base's AI, Gate keeper announced. Nyreen found Gate Keeper, possibly a reference to the shadow organization's name, fascinating only because 'he' was the second AI she had seen in her entire life. While Citadel space had gotten used to the idea of friendly AIs, they seemed to still retain their cultural bias. Many claim the Alliance's AIs are vastly different than the Geth, simply because the Alliance were able to fully understand their nature before creating devices. While that was partly true, it did not provide sufficient evidence to support that claim.

Seeing the humans being treated like the other council races, better in some cases, caused resentment among the quarians, who view humanity's ascent in galactic power as hubris. They were forced from their homes, abandoned by the Council races, and had been forced to live on ships with the risk of extinction, while the humans were offered a Council seat for the creation of the same mistake. This caused quarians to openly display hatred and propaganda against the humans. Ironically enough there were reports of Quarian 'warships' raiding human vessels and would board the ships in order to obtain advanced human technology.

Due to their weak ships and the small, but powerful human warships, the Quarian's were forced to attack shipping freighters and using their display of large number of ships to force the crew to abandon the ship, allowing them to obtain human technology. Unfortunately for the Quarians, following the Terminus-Council war, all freighters moved in convoys and had Alliance frigates and destroyers stealthily escort them from behind. The result was several Quarian warships were destroyed, with minimal damage to the human fleet. Such aggressive actions caused any galactic support for the Quarians to dimished and only caused further discrimination from every race, with the exception of the Hanar, the Asari, and the Raloi.

"Jacob Taylor, report for round two," Gate Keeper continued.

"Wish me luck," Jacob said, exiting the observation deck.

"Good luck," Shepard and Ramirez called after him.

"How do you think he'll do?" Kasumi asked, to no one in particular.

"I think he'll do alright. He may be a little too….nice for a soldier, but he must be extremely skilled." Shepard replied.

Garrus entered the room, distinctly pleased with himself. "Well what did you think?" he asked them all.

"I'd say that was great, but don't get cocky or you'll get a rocket to the face." Jack told them.

"I'll be sure to remember that Jack."

Gate keeper declared the start of the round. Everyone was now watching Jacob and wondering how he would complete the task.

His style was largely like Garrus's in the sense that he preferred stealth and taking them out one by one instead of going for entire squads. Unlike Garrus, however he wasn't as showy and used a shotgun instead. Once again the thirty soldiers spread out in squads and Jacob elected to track them one squad at a time. He was patient and positioned himself so that none of the other soldiers would have a clear shot when he popped out of cover and attacked the team closest to him.

When he saw a squad approaching, he fired his shotgun, taking all four of them down. The noise of his shotgun alerted the rest of the enemy combatants and they descended on his last known position. When the enemy arrived at Jacob's position, they found smoke, flash bang, and paint grenades. Before any of them could give a warning, the grenades were detonated. Off the bat Jacob eliminated six with the paint grenade. With smoke providing cover on top of the enemies momentarily stunned by the flash bang, it was a walk in the park for Jacob.

One by one he eliminated them, managing to rack up twelve 'kills' before the smoke was cleared. He took cover and as the remaining troopers started to panick, Jacob attacked them with grenades, biotics, and his shot gun. They were simply unable to respond to the versatile attacks of Jacob.

"Round over," Gate Keeper announced.

It had taken five minutes. "Looks like he beat your record." Ramirez teased Garrus.

"He also didn't show off as much," Liara added jokingly. "Not sure if the latter is a good thing or a bad thing, though."

"Well let's be honest. No one can match the style and flair of Garrus Vakarian!" Garrus told the team earning him some playful retorts.

"Grunt, please report for round three."

The large white-armored Krogan headed out of the door. "He He He, this is going to be fun!" Grunt said as he hit his fists together.

"You know I kind of almost fell bad for those guys." Ramirez said seeing Grunt laugh that somewhat evil laugh and being overly excited with having to fight.

"I have to agree with you." Kaidan added, his remark was shared by most of the team.

Jacob arrived and nodded once to Grunt and then walked past him up the stairs. He seemed undeterred as he joined the rest of the team in the observation deck. "You know seeing Grunt smile like that makes me worry about the Cerberus guys." he said.

"Join the club." Ramirez told him.

The floor was set up again and more troops were herded in, just for Grunt. Grunt strode into the room. He picked up his primary and secondary weapons - a shotgun and an assault rifle. His combat style did little to reassure the team, and probably the Cerberus soldiers, that no would end in the base's infirmary or worse.

"How long do you think he'll take?" Ashley asked to no one in particular. Mordin would have answered, but Zaeed beat him to it.

"Probably not the long considering he's basically the perfect krogan, but then again his species enjoys dragging out fights as long as possible."

Grunt stared at the terrified fifty troops as they tried to put as much distance between them and Grunt as possible. With a loud roar he charged them. "AAAAHHHHHH!"

In unison all the Cerberus soldiers seemed to forget that they had weapons and that this was a simulation not active combat. Immediately most the soldiers turned tail and ran as fast as they could. The few that were too paralyzed in fear, were immediately shot and tackled by Grunt, sending them flying.

Seeing their bodies impact the wall hard, Ramirez said "Yeah, I definitely feel bad for them." Many share his sentiment as they saw Grunt, who was supposed to be hunted, hunting the Cerberus soldiers.

One soldier managed to get himself cornered and Grunt stalked him like a lion would his prey.

The Cerberus soldier seeing there was no hope, did the unthinkable. He threw down his gun and got on his knees with his hands in the air and pleaded, "Please let me live, I have a family to take of. Have mercy on me I beg you." The Cerberus soldier was on the verge of tears, something Grunt disliked greatly.

Shooting him with the assault rifle, Grunt said, with malice in his voice "There, now get of here!"

"Thank you. God bless you." the soldier said as he ran off, presumably towards anywhere else, but where he was currently.

In the observation deck, General Morak was face-palming himself. "That was possibly the most pathetic thing I have ever seen in my entire existence."

Miranda stared as Grunt just intimidated a highly-trained Cerberus operative in a simulation. "Well….that's something I thought impossible." she said.

"Krogan are feared for their brutal nature. Stereotype is always untrue as they have shown signs of compassions, however this is only with their own kind." Mordin informed her.

Seeing their comrade had been spared, all the remaining Cerberus soldiers threw down their arms and surrendered to Grunt.

"Call the round." Morak ordered flabbergasted at what he had just witness.

"Round over." Gate Keeper announced.

The cycle continued all afternoon. One by one each member was called down individually to perform their test. Kasumi and Thane used stealth to their advantage and eliminate the soldiers systematically. Thane even managed to obtain the enemy armor and equip it, allowing him to eliminate the enemy while also confusing them. Miranda, Samara, Liara, and Jack used their biotics to their advantage. Lifting them into the air immobilized, allowing them to concentrate on the numerically weaken soldiers. Miranda and Jack, however also used slam and warp causing some Cerberus personal to immediately go to the infirmary due to the injuries they sustained. Nyreen, Kaidan, Zaeed, and Ashley each used their weapons more than anyone else. No showing off or unnecessary delays, they just simply gunned the Cerberus soldiers down. Mordin, simply neural shocked all the troopers causing them to collapse on the ground. Then he just walked aroudn shooting each of the soldiers while they were down. Legion was perhaps the smartest as he hacked the Cerberus personals' weapons, preventing them from firing. Either because they were demoralized or because they wanted to get it over it, the Cerberus soldiers lined up and allowed Legion to shoot them.

Finally it was just down to Ramirez and Shepard. "Shepard please report for the next round." Gate Keeper said over the comm.

"Well I guess it's my turn." Shepard said as he grabbed his MX carbine. Heading down the stairs, everyone wished him luck.

He had been observing the others, carefully. Garrus, Kasumi, and Thane had been stealthy and precise, however Garrus had been sly, but reckless. Kasumi and Thane would make excellent choices when operating in urban environments as they can blend in with the crowd. Garrus could provide sniper support from afar.

Miranda and Jack had been sly, but aggressive. They would be excellent for hazardous operations. Samara and Liara were more focused making them efficient in long firefights. Each had their own strengths and weaknesses.

Going over the list of rounds, he determined Jacob and Thane had the best runs as they didn't take any unnecessary risk. He tucked the information to the back of his head. It could come in handy one day.

"This is going to be good!" Ramirez chirped happily, breaking the silence.

"He is going to kick some ass." Jacob added.

"Let's just see how the boy scout does." Jack told them.

As Shepard entered the training room, he had already decided what he was going do, quick elimination. Nothing too flashy like Garrus or stylish as he had put it, not as completely unforgiving like Zaeed, who gave a guy a concussion. Just lightning fast and deadly.

"Round start." Gate Keeper announced.

Shepard ducked behind a barrier. His motion sensor picked the enemy right away. There were two hiding a few rows down from her, with a squad in almost in the same position in the next two rows of obstacles.

It seemed as if they were still trying to organize themselves and trying to see what would Shepard's plan of attack would be.

_'They probably think I'm still trying to make my mind. They won't be expecting this soon.'_ Shepard thought. He spun from behind the barrier and charged down the centre row. Firing a concussive shot, he eliminated an entire fire team.

The second pair jumped in surprise as she approached them. They both collapsed to the ground, faces or more exact helmets being littered with the remains of the rubber bullets. He didn't break a sweat, and kept firing at anything that moved. He dropped into a slide as the next squad shot the air where his upper body used to be a fraction of a second before. He fired his weapon at their pelvises. They clattered to the floor comically, making high pitched squeaking noises.

Shepard jumped out of his slide, and picked up his sprint. He was about twenty meters from the next group of enemies. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the next four had moved to flank him from behind after he ran forward. Jumping into the air, Shepard equipped his pistol and fired at the four enemies. Four shots impacted with four helmets as they dropped to the floor.

Sliding into a nearby barricade, Shepard noticed that the last group of enemies had group themselves in groups of eight in a V-like formation. This meant as he engaged one group, the other two would move in and flank him.

_'Well this calls for some improvisation.'_ Shepard thought.

Throwing grenades, he managed to separate one group from the other two groups and focused on that one. Shooting each soldier until they were down, Shepard fired a concussive shot at the other group eliminating half and fired his pistol eliminating the remainder. He was down to the last group and as they fired their weapons, Shepard felt the rubber bullets whizz by him. He planted his foot and pushed herself into the air. Arching his back and flinging his other foot forward, he fired at the enemy soldiers beneath him as his body was upside down. As he was about to reach the floor, Shepard fired another concussive shot eliminating the remainder. His foot hit the ground again first and he landed in a kneeling position. His landing ankle burned with pain, but he ignored it.

He heard Ramirez's muffled yell from the observation deck. "What the fuck?!"

"Round over. James Ramirez, report for round eight." Gate Keeper stated in his usual cool demeanor.

Shepard stood and headed back to the observation deck, panting heavily. He dropped his weapon on the weapons table as he passed it.

"Damn," Ramirez said, striding down the last couple of stairs. "That was the most badass thing I ever saw. Well aside from mine of course."

"You haven't even gone yet." Shepard protest.

"But I'm about to. Watch and learn from the pros." Ramirez strode past him, snatching an MX carbine and a pistol.

Shepard, shaking his head, rolled his eyes and went up to the observation deck.

He was greeted by some clapping, cheering, and approval.

"Show off." Garrus coughed into his hand.

"Jealous that I out -shone you Garrus?"

"Of course not Captain, though it seems you didn't hold back."

"What is he doing?" Kasumi asked, with immense curiosity.

Her question peaked the interest of the others and they walked up to the window to see how Ramirez was doing in his round.

Ramirez was calmly striding down a row of blocks, his gun over his shoulder. Whenever a white soldier peeked out from behind a block, Ramirez would flip his carbine off his shoulder in one quick movement, and fire causing the soldier to clatter to the ground. It seemed a little too easy to be possible; there were some split seconds where a soldier could have shot and easily taken down Ramirez, but instead they waited for him to shoot them.

Shepard looked around; no one else seemed to notice. "How is he just walking through the place and winning?"

When he came to the last two soldier, he hardly did a thing. They stood facing each other, guns aimed. It seemed like Ramirez was talking to them, but Shepard couldn't even fathom what it was. Eventually the two lowered their guns and Ramirez shot them both in the chest. They clattered to the ground, and walked over to them, said something else and patted each of them on the head.

"Round over. Session one complete."

"Just what in the name of spirits happened?" Garrus shouted with frustration. Clearly he was infuriated by Ramirez's display. Everyone had the same level of interest.

General Morak just watched eye-wide at what had just occurred. "Never have I seen something as ridiculous as this." He said to his Colonel.

"Well it seems, he has shown great levels of adaptation and ingenuity." Hik responded.

"Perhaps. Hopefully the Illusive man sees things in the same light." They both left, just as Ramirez arrived.

Bowing to the team, he said "Thank you, thank you."

"How did you do that?" Kasumi asked.

Ramirez shrugged. "Those guys have been fighting us all day. They're tired and terrified. I just told them if they wanted to spend a while fighting or just be done with it. The last two weren't as sure as the rest, so I told them that I would buy them drinks and they did as I told them to do." He paused for a second. "Does this place have a bar?"

Kaidan yawned. "Well, I'm tired. Might as well go get some shut eye."

"Just remember we are living in the Normandy now." Shepard told him.

Kaidan groaned. "Great we have to walk all the way back there. Perfect."

"Getting some rest seems like a good idea." Thane added.

The other members of the team filed out of the room, Grunt glaring at Ramirez on the way out, until it was just Ramirez and Kasumi.

"You bribed them, didn't you?" Kasumi asked, although she already knew the answer.

Ramirez shrugged and took off his helmet, revealing an easy smile. Kasumi swallowed a lump in her throat as she gazed on his features. She noticed he had a long scar on his left cheek.

"Hey I got to know a few of them. Yes I bribed them, but no one told me I couldn't . It's all strategy," he added, with tapping of his head with his finger.

Kasumi rolled her eyes. "Well I'm going to sleep. See you around."

"Definitely." Watching Kasumi leave, Ramirez found himself smiling for the first time since Daro left him.


	4. Chapter 4 - It begins

A/N: I have a challenge for all my readers. Last story got 168 reviews and i'm looking to top that. I think we can do it, just remember leave a review. Also check out **Forward unto Victory** by HeirOfRohan in the command and conquer section. I promise you it's great.

* * *

2-25-2184 0944 hours (Citadel standard time)

* * *

**Undisclosed Location**

The Illusive man found himself chuckling, something which he didn't do often. Watching each member of the team decimate and intimidate the Cerberus soldiers brought him quality entertainment. Of course these 'soldiers' were ones that were deemed incompetent by his standards, and therefore were deployed simply as training targets for true soldiers.

"They seem to be advancing at a remarkable rate," The Illusive man said as he took a puff of his cigar. "I believe they will soon be ready for deployment."

General Morak just started at the Illusive man. "They may be deadly warriors, though I believe they have yet to prove themselves as a team."

"Time is not our ally in this war General. If they aren't ready in two months, then I believe all this effort would have been for nothing." The Illusive man sternly told the Prothean general.

"We cannot just send them into the fire without preparing themselves or else we are just wasting resources."

"General, Shepard and his team are more than just 'resources'. As of right now they are humanity's and by extension, the galaxy's greatest hope for survival. Ensure I do not have to repeat myself on this matter."

"Of course." With that, the general and the head of Cerberus each logged off from their respective servers.

_'They must be ready for what's to come.' _The Illusive man thought as he took another puff of his cigar.

So far progress has been promising, their team was complete and fully-armed. Now all that was left was to make sure they were capable of working as a team and General Morak would make sure of it.

'_My plans are already in motion. Now all that is left is to put the final pieces in place.' _Morak thought as he ordered the Prothean and Cerberus to advance. He turned his attention to the small camera in the mess hall, witnessing the team communicate with each other. He wondered what will happen in the upcoming moment, will their effort as a team allow them to prevail or will the diversity of so many personalities be their downfall? Either way, Morak was about to get his answer.

* * *

"So Joker, when are you get surgery for your legs?" Ramirez mocked Joker.

"About the same time around you learn to stop being depressed over women." Joker retorted.

"Hey at least I can please women."

"You forget Ramirez, the Normandy is my baby."

"That's right Joker. No one cares or flies her like you do." Shepard told him.

The three continued making idle conversation, burning through their food as they did so. Others were also chewing their food and were having different conversations. Shepard at that moment, seeing all these different people from different races, realized it was war that brought them together. War is what drove these soldiers to unite together for a common cause, survival. Shepard found it funny that it was war, not peace, that seemed to unify people.

"Hey Ram-" Shepard caught it before it even entered everyone else's as split situational awareness. The other members of the team caught it a split second after Shepard. In an instant, Zaeed's barely pubescent voice roared and cracked "_GRENADE!" _as the non-lethal flash-bang was dropped into the mess from the skylights.

Immediately, Shepard and everyone else on his side on the table jumped over as the table was flipped over to provide cover. Just then the grenade came mid-way between the ceiling and the ground, and detonated in a massive, blinding, deafening explosion. What would have been utter chaos in such an attack, instead was the result of months of solid, day-in, day-out training.

Shepard and his team switched from a 'casual' state of mind to a full battle awareness. In the few milliseconds between the flash-bangs detonating, and the several fully-armed and armored Protheans and Cerberus soldiers roping into the building, storming the doors, and removing their tactical cloaks, the team reacted in their own way that they knew how, attack and defend.

Garrus and Javik aimed their non-lethal side arms, at the enemy combatants. Liara, Samara, Miranda, and Jack were flipping tables to create cover, flinging dishes to create distractions and momentarily stun the enemies, and forming up in their squads to create unit cohesion.

A military-training evolution of paintball and tranquilizers, paralyzing paint rounds were exactly as advertised. It is paint, that when impacted on a target, it rapidly hardens and solidifies to the point of incapacitation, should they be hit in enough places.

"Ramirez! Stay on my ass, cover me! Shepard ordered, "Now we need to get weapons!"

"Alright." Looking around the room, Ramirez noticed someone was missing. "Hey, Shepard where-" he began, but was cut-off by an explosion on the side of the wall. Emerging in the chaos was none other than Grunt and in his possession were many weapons of all kinds. He immediately became the target of the enemy soldiers, probably because they saw him as the biggest threat.

Remarkably, Grunt was able to run towards Shepard's position and avoid being hit in the process.

"I guess that answers my question." Ramirez said as he picked up a non-lethal version of his favorite armaments. Everyone was also doing the same thing.

"Shepard-Captain, their creating a barrier field to create cover." Legion warned.

"Shepard what are your orders?" Jacob asked.

Shepard thought for a moment and decided that a crazy strategy was better than no strategy at all. "Kasumi, can you use your invisibility cloak to hassle them in their rear?" He asked her.

"No problem, Shepard." Immediately Kasumi activated her cloak and became invisible. It was then that she started to navigate the chaos that had engulfed the mess hall.

"Everyone else, assemble the tables in a circular formation in the middle in the room!" He pointed to where he wanted to set up, "They'll surround us, and that will make it easier for us to find targets!"

"That's a stupid plan. We should just charge them." Grunt called out.

"Grunt, we aren't all krogan." Ramirez told him. "I vote for Shepard's idea, anyone disagree?" Seeing no one disagreed, Shepard put his plan into motion.

"Okay! Move fast!" Shepard ordered, "Heaviest lifters first, take a hold of the table's supports!" He indicated the iron bars on the underside of the table, "Biotics, reduce its mass! The less distance we have to drag it, the better! The rest of you, maintain suppressive fire on the enemy! Watch your shots, and go for their weak spots."

"What weak spots!?" Ramirez sarcastically asked rather loudly, after shooting a Cerberus soldier in heavy armor in the head multiple times. Said Cerberus trooper was still fighting, which aggravated Ramirez. "Hey jackass why don't you stay down?"

Of course his response was a hail of paintball rounds. "Fuckers." He muttered as he ducked behind cover.

After fighting for a mere seconds, a series of explosions blasted in the Prothean rear. Balls of pink paint rained down on them as they were momentarily caught off guard.

"That's it everyone! Keep the heat on them!" Shepard encouraged his team.

Even Joker managed to hit a target. "TAKE THAT YOU ASSHOLES!" He screamed at them.

Minutes later, Kasumi appeared right next to Ramirez as they continued to shoot at the enemies. "I take it you are to thank for those explosions?" he asked her.

"I do what I can." she remarked.

People on both sides were calling out ammunition checks, enemy positions, tactical cloak shimmers, everything. Over all the noise of gunfire and shouting, Shepard couldn't miss the unmistakable 'clink' of a grenade slamming onto the ground.

"Flash-bang!" Shepard shouted, before he ducked his head down, clamped his eyes shut, and covered his ears with his arms. Everyone, but Mordin, Kaidan, and Liara were fast enough to do so, and as a result they were easily eliminated in their dazed state.

In Shepard's team in a weaken state, the Prothean and Cerberus soldiers advanced. One of them, a biotic, lifted Legion into the air and fired. Unfortunately the shot went right through the hole in 'his' armor and in an elevated position Legion fired his sniper rifle, hitting the same biotic that lifted him in the leg twice and in the neck once. Another Prothean soldier fired his rifle and managed to hit Legion in the waist as he descended to the ground.

"The bloody insects are advancing!" Shepard heard, muffled through the ringing in his ears, Zaeed's voice.

"They don't pass our tables!" Shepard ordered, breaking cover and sighting down a Cerberus soldier. He fired and instantly she went down.

The Protheans were few in number, but they had his training, his battle instincts, and his experience on their side. The Cerberus soldiers didn't, but most likely they were there to bolster the Prothean's numbers.

Garrus emptied his entire magazine into a Cerberus soldier in front of him, seven shots were what it took to deplete the man's shields, but the rest of Garrus's shots were absorbed by his armor. Looking to his left side, he saw Thane narrowly duck multiple paint ball rounds, by leaning back to where his back was perpendicular to his legs. After they had fired where he was once standing, Thane managed to eliminate several enemy soldiers from the ground, before getting back into cover.

_'That reminds me of that one Earth-vid…..the _Matrix_ I believe it was called.' _Garrus thought as he saw Thane do something similar to what he had seen in the vid. In his distracted state, he didn't notice an enemy aiming at him. Just as the enemy fired, her round was blocked by a barrier from Nyreen.

"Pay attention!" She scowled at him.

"Right, sorry." he apologized. Together Garrus and Nyreen managed to take out six more troops between them. Biotic and weapons training seemed to complement each other as Garrus and Nyreen were demonstrating.

"We got them!" Ashley yelled, shortly before she was covered head to toe in paint for being exposed for too long.

"Keep firing and keep your heads down!" Ordered a smiling Shepard, as he ducked back into cover to reload, in order to avoid Ashley's fate.

Miraculously Joker hadn't been hit yet. This greatly surprised Shepard as he, along with pretty much everyone else, believed Joker to only be a flight lieutenant and nothing more. "Damn, Joker. I didn't think you had any ground training." Shepard said, blind firing at the Cerberus soldiers that were closing in on their position.

"What just because of my 'condition', that automatically means that I can't fight?" Joker asked a bit offended, shooting at a Cerberus soldier.

"Of course not, it's just that your obsession for an inanimate object is so great I never figured you would have time for anything else." Ramirez mocked.

"Screw you."

"Guys! Focus on the enemy first!" Shepard ordered them.

"Sorry, captain." They both said in unison.

To Shepard right's he saw Jack get covered with paint around her torso after she let her temper get the best of her. "FUCK YOU ASSHOLES!" She yelled as she sent a few tables flying towards them. The tables managed to prove effective in either forcing the enemies to take cover or be hit in the face and thus knocking them out.

At that instant, Shepard had an idea. Looking around he could see a few more minutes and the line would fall. They were immensely outnumbered and outgunned and therefore they needed a game changer. "Miranda, Samara, and Nyreen, when I say now I want you all to sent the tables flying in each direction. Everyone else, when that happens I want you to eliminate any dazed soldier. Am I clear?" he asked them.

They all nodded and got ready to pull of the stunt. When he was satisfied that they were ready, Shepard gave the order. "Now!" he shouted.

In an instant later, the entire mess hall was momentarily filled with tables soaring all over the place. Even the combatants that were taken out of the fight like Kaidan and Ashley had to duck in order to avoid being plastered by the granite tables. Approximately a quarter of the Prothean and Cerberus soldiers were able to find cover in the nick of time. The rest however, weren't so lucky and were met with the painful impact of hard granite smashing into their faces and bodies. They were easily picked off rather quickly and the remaining biotics attempted to create barrier fields for their teams.

"Shepard we are going to need something big and hard to take out those shields." Nyreen told him.

With a nod of his head, Shepard glanced over at their heaviest hitter, Grunt, and said "Grunt cut loose."

In response to his words, Grunt threw his weapon aside and shouted "I AM KROGAN!" He then charged at the enemy like a mad bull seeing nothing, but red.

The Cerberus soldiers immediately turned tail and attempted to retreat, only to be picked off by Garrus's impressive marksman skills. The Protheans were a different story, having survived the horrors of the Reaper war, they were not so easily eliminated. They held their ground, not intimidated by a rushing Krogan, and were effectively firing an impressive display of fire at the young, reckless Krogan. Grunt, after taking huge amounts of paintball fire, was taken out; but not before three Prothean soldiers were thrown from their cover by the strong Krogan.

"Well there goes our ace in the hole." Joker commented as he witness Grunt's elimination from the firefight.

"I'm not worried, after all we always have you ready to bail us out in any situation." Shepard sarcastically said.

"Hey that's when I'm flying the Normandy, not in ground combat."

"Well you could always be bait."

"Asshole." Joker retorted, firing his weapon and eliminating a Prothean soldier, however the same Prothean managed to take out Nyreen.

"Spirits, I was so close." Nyreen muttered in fustration.

Ramirez and Garrus took out two more Prothean soldiers, however they managed to lose Jacob in the process as well. There were only six Protheans remaining. "Garrus you take the ones on the left and I'll take the ones on the right." Ramirez offered.

"There is twice as many on the left." Garrus responded.

"Yeah I know. I can count." Ramirez told him just as a Prothean soldier came around their cover, directly behind Garrus. "Shit! Watch out!" Ramirez warned as he fired on the Prothean soldier and taking him out. However, Ramirez failed to see another one come up behind him and as a result was easily shot from behind.

"Damn it!" Garrus said frustrated that the enemy soldiers managed to flank them. He fired his sniper rifle and the enemy soldier fired his assault rifle. It was a display to witness, as the fire both men managed to cancel each other out, thus causing Garrus and the enemy soldier to be taken out almost simultaneously.

Getting back up, Ramirez could see Garrus was also covered in paint. "I'll admit Garrus, that was pretty impressive." He said, offering a hand to Garrus.

Garrus took it and now on his feet, said "Thanks. You weren't so bad yourself."

They then went to join the rest of the team that were eliminated. They could hear their reactions were mixed. Some were satisfied to simply have the time to do extra work, while others were enraged that they were taken out.

"Captain I recommend an all out assault." Javik suggested, levitating an enemy combatant and easily taking her out.

He looked around and saw only that three were remaining. It was then that he made his decision. "Javik, body slam the one on the right. Miranda, you and Samara levitate the remaining two."

They did as they were told, Javik body slamming an enemy on one of mess hall's support beams. The Cerberus soldier was easily incapacitated. Miranda and Samara levitated the two remaining soldiers and they were covered completely in pink paint as Zaeed, Shepard, Javik, and Kasumi unloaded all their remaining magazines on them.

A series of cheers and shouts came from the direction of the other team members. Shepard looked around and saw, the once white covered, mess hall was covered in various shades of red, blue, pink and purple.

Glancing at the remaining team members that managed to last the entire assault, Shepard told them "That is exactly what we do in a scenario like this." Raising his voice so that the losers could hear him, "Hopefully next time 'all' the team members will last the entire fight!"

Ramirez responded in kind by putting up his two middle fingers at Shepard, who laughed at his friend's reaction.

A clap was heard from behind him and Shepard turned to see General Morak. "You have done well and each of you should be proud. I take pleasure in having train you, however the current circumstances forces me to deploy you sooner than I would like."

"Exactly what circumstances are we talking about?" Shepard asked him.

"Two of our operatives were captured by a Quarian marine platoon. Their job was to retrieve sensitive Alliance material and technology. From what we've managed to gather, they are being held on the Quarian ship, the Aleria. Your mission is to rescue the operatives and destroy any research into human technology and retrieve whatever you can."

The news hit Shepard hard as he grimaced at the details of the mission. The General seem to notice Shepard's state. "Is there a problem, Captain?" Morak asked Shepard, his eyes narrowing indicating he knew Shepard was hiding something from him.

Putting a straight face on, Shepard said "No sir."

To all the crew members of the Normandy, Morak said to them, "The training ends now, agents. There is no longer a room for error. No more second chances. If you make a mistake now, you or one of your team mates will pay for it. Having said that, are there any questions?"

He stared at them for a moment, but none of them moved. A heavy silence settled over all the assembled, no doubt reflecting the meaning of what he had just said.

"Very well then, dismissed." He gave a salute, in which Shepard returned.

They gave a nod to the general and watching them banter as they left the room, Morak saw Ramirez approaching.

"How many tangos are we looking at?" Ramirez asked the Prothean general, while everyone left for the ship.

"Ah, my people have a saying in the matter." He responded.

"And what might it be?"

"Information learned is more valuable than information given." He answered with a slight smirk.

"So what you're saying is, you're not going to tell me?" Ramirez asked him, getting annoyed with all the riddles the Protheans were so commonly known for.

"You will find everything you need to know. Other than the ship's layout, you'll be going in blind. You won't know the enemies numbers, their guard rotations, their weaponry, or their capabilities. This is your job to find out. "

With an unsatisfied grunt, Ramirez jogged to catch up to the others. When Morak was sure all the members of the Normandy's crew was gone, he activated a personal com-link.

The Illusive man appeared on screen. "I still do not think they are ready," Morak murmured, not meeting the Illusive man's eyes, who was quite possibly the most dangerous man in the world.

He sighed heavily, resting his hands on the sides of his leather chair. "Not this same old argument again, general, please. They're as ready as they ever will be. I believe in them and so should you. I have no doubt in my mind that they will complete the objective, and we will be one step further on stopping the Reapers."

Morak looked up at him, unable to keep the reproaching look off of his face. "I can't help but feel that compacting all of these personalities on a small ship will eventually cause infighting."

"Don't worry Shepard is a natural-born leader. If anyone is able to lead them, it would be him."

"I hope you're right, for all our sakes."

With that said, General Morak disabled his communicator and watched as the Normandy took off in the void.

"May the father of wisdom guide them in their journey." Morak silently murmured to himself.

* * *

This might be an issue, or a chance to kick Gerrell's and Rael's asses for being dicks.


	5. Chapter 5 - First impressions

3-3-2184 0944 hours (Citadel standard time)

* * *

**Cerberus Headquarters**

**Undisclosed Location**

The Illusive man sat in his usual chair and reviewed the video of the simulation ambush over and over again, looking for both moments of ingenuity and of stupidity. He constantly re-watched as Ashley was taken out due to arrogance, Grunt recklessly assaulting the Prothean line, and watched as Shepard set up a defensive line and held it with his small band of soldiers.

Nyreen had performed well, but was taken out by a Prothean soldier. She showed signs of relying equally on her weapons as her biotics. A very balanced individual.

He quickly reviewed his own notes on the other member's performance. Shepard, as always, performed exceptionally. Ramirez and Garrus seemed to show excellent teamwork. Joker, the pilot, impressed him showing qualities and abilities he had not believed the flight lieutenant to have had.

The doors behind him suddenly burst open, a man strode in, his face critical of what he saw as he glanced round the room.

"Good afternoon, Illusive man," the man in back of him said, with a voice that clearly stated his role in galactic affairs. "As the human coun-" he began, but was quickly cut off by the Illusive man.

"I know exactly who you are, what your position is, and how far your influence goes Udina," the Illusive man snapped, his lip curled in distaste. "I see the Alliance doesn't trust me to run this operation without leaving someone behind to check up on me."

The human councilor held up his hands in defense and shook his head slowly. "I assure you that the Alliance has no such intentions. I am only here to make sure our investment was worth it."

The Illusive man stared at him for a moment, before he inclined his head in acknowledgement, seeing the naked truth in Udina's eyes.

'_Perhaps this is a man I can have use for,' _he mused within the privacy of his thoughts.

However, he wasn't readily going to hand sensitive materials to the man. The Illusive man wasn't the sort of man who could just trust people. His years working for, and eventually becoming leader of a black ops organization has taught him that trust was too valuable a commodity to be handed out freely. It had to be earned and from what he saw in Udina, wasn't much too impressive.

"Very well then, Councilor. I shall forward you all relative mission reports from the team." He looked away from Udina, out through the glass of the observation deck, into the magnificence of space. "She is a fine station, is she not? More than I had expected them to grant me, given the circumstances that we find ourselves in."

"A fine station, certainly. We live in a time of necessity after all." Udina answered him, gazing over the various consoles and terminals. The station was surrounded by 1 dreadnought, 2 super carriers, 12 carriers, 5 battle cruisers, 15 cruisers, 30 destroyers, and 45 frigates, no sane warlord or fleet would even consider attacking the station, of course they would have to find it first, something that was extremely unlikely.

"And necessity demands action." The Illusive man finished solemnly, smiling slightly. He turned away from the glass, striding towards the control platform, hands behind his back. Technicians rushed to and from each of the terminals to ensure power usage was optimal.

"Allison, would you be kind enough to show our prestigious councilor the work Cerberus has achieved." His tone was commanding, yet polite. His smile widening as the various screens lit up and took on the semblance of activity.

The dozens of screens quickly flicked through a variety of images, and a woman's voice softly spoke up. "All current systems are operational. Life support is online. Station's defense systems are powering up. Shields are online. Artificial gravity, you should already know, is online." The station's AI stated. "Is there anything you would specifically like to know , Councilor?"

"Not at this moment." He said nervously, coming to the conclusion it was best to keep a certain distance from the organization and be allowed to feign shock if the whole plan backfired. "I see that the Alliance has invested well into your organization and I bid you a farewell." Udina quickly walked towards the nearest elevator.

From within the shadows of the room, a voice was heard. "I never thought he would ever leave." The person then walked out of the shadows revealing himself to the Illusive man.

"Don't worry Leng. Udina is only here for show, trying to appear as if he has any control on our affairs." The aging man told his most lethal assassin. "I presume your mission was a success?"

Kai Leng reached into his pockets and pulled out an O.S.D card. He handed it over to the Illusive man. "The Quarian's tech is starting to get more advanced by the month. We believe that the Collectors may be involved."

"Have you any confirmation on this? I do not want to waste resources only to find out that it was a false alarm." The Illusive man sternly told him.

"No, but I was able to confirm their population size. From the most recent census, the Quarian population size is at a total of 45 million." Kia Leng awaited the Illusive man's reaction.

Almost choking on the glass of whiskey he was drinking, he asked "Are you certain of this?"

"Check the information yourself." He indicated to the card that was in the Illusive man's hand. "It's all there and now their ships number at over 250,000 vessels of varying class."

Eyeing the card, the Illusive man pocketed it and turned his attention to Kai Leng. "If what you're saying is true then that almost surely means the collectors, and by extension the Reapers, are involved."

"How far do you think this goes?"

"If the Quarians are receiving advanced technology, then the only logical conclusion is that they are being assisted by the Batarians, which could mean war for the Alliance." The Illusive man said, solemnly.

"The Alliance just got done fighting a war with the Batarians and the Geth. I doubt that they'll charge right into another one."

"Actually I plan on that." Walking over to a stand, which held a bottle of whiskey. He poured some into his glass and drank from it. "You see Kai Leng, I believe the Reapers are actively trying to goat all the galactic governments into war in order to become weaken when they arrive. I will forward the findings to the Alliance, hopefully they will start to heavily invest in Cerberus."

"Why?" Kai Leng asked confused. He did not see the same picture that the Illusive man saw.

"In order to wage this war ourselves. As we take the brunt of the attack, it will give the Alliance time to prepare. Our sacrifice will ensure humanity's survival." The Illusive man walked over the observation deck and stared at the Cerberus fleet.

"If this is war, we are going to need more than Shepard's team and Cerberus. We are going to need help." Kai Leng said, with crossed arms. He knew no matter how good Cerberus or Shepard's team may be, they alone could not match the Hegemony's navy.

"Which is why I will be meeting with the Red Hand, the Spectres, and the Raloin military to have them join our cause." The Illusive man explained to his assassin.

Kai Leng thought it over. Overall it was a sound strategy, Cerberus's image improves and the Alliance does not risk their military. "I can see the Red Hand and maybe the Spectres helping us, but how are you going to convince the Raloin military to wage war against the Batarians?"

"Simple, prestige. As of now, they are seen as the underdogs, if they were take out a known galactic superpower, they would gain recognition."

"And what of Shepard?" The assassin asked the head of Cerberus.

Sighing, he said "He has no idea what he's getting into. To his credit he has an impressive team. A tough band of brothers, but whether their loyal is a different matter itself. If Shepard can't gain their trust then their all as good as dead, but if anyone can make this work it'd be Shepard. He is our best bet."

"Where do I fit into this?" Kai Leng asked, wanting to get in on the action.

"There is a Batarian outpost, which I believe is holding the Hegemony's plans for any combat strategy and perhaps their intention."

"You want me to raid it?"

"Of course."

"Consider it done." Kai Leng said as he started to walk away.

Before he got too far, the Illusive man stopped him. "Oh and KaiLeng?"

Kai Leng, gave a glance over his shoulder. "This time try not to leave a mess, hmm?" The Illusive man told him.

"No promises." With that said, the assassin stepped into the elevator.

The Illusive man sat on his chair and watched the void in silence. "Allison, rewind the simulation tapes."

"With pleasure, sir."

However, he was interrupted by a Cerberus officer running into his office. "Sir…the operatives…are in positioned." he said hunched over and out of breath.

"Good send them in." The Illusive man told him.

The officer tap commands into his data-pad signaling the operatives to begin their mission. "If I may sir, this may not be the appropriate team to send in."

Finishing his glass of alcohol, he said "The results speak for themselves. Send them in." The Illusive man repeated, not bothering to turn around in his chair.

The officer saluted and walked away.

* * *

**The Kepler Verge**

**12,000 Kilometers from the Aleria**

The Normandy's velocity could be felt by everyone as they prepared for their first mission. Ramirez looked towards the solitary window at the back to see the darkness of space. The entire ride to the ship had been filled with nothing but tension. No one spoke a single word as they loaded their gear. The mission was simple, infiltrate the ship, recover the Cerberus operatives, and retrieve any Alliance technology.

As the team equipped their thruster packs, Shepard spoke over them. "Here is the plan, Ramirez, Kasumi, Zaeed, and Thane are on me. The rest of you stay onboard and board the ship only if necessary. Got it?"

The team gave a series of nods. Joker's voice rang throughout the cargo bay. "Back door opening in 10 seconds!" Shepard looked towards the back of the cargo bay as he heard the sound of the thrusters as the doors were unsealed. It began to open and space seemed to penetrate what was once steel.

The Normandy's SR-2 stealth upgrades allowed it to scan and cloak simultaneously. The ship was positioned directly over the Aleria.

"Well we are directly above the Aleria, Captain," Joker called. "Now get off before my baby gets shot at?"

Ramirez pressed his comm on his helmet and asked "You're afraid of Quarian defense guns?"

"I'm afraid being around you guys will shrink my life expectancy." He responded.

"Let's go team!" Shepard ordered, breaking the chatter between Ramirez and Joker. Zaeed stood up and jumped behind him, his sniper rifle tucked securely in his hands. He was followed by Thane.

Ramirez looked up and got to his feet, which was exactly mirrored by Kasumi's actions, who sat directly across from him. They stood for a moment, staring at one another as Shepard jumped off the corvette.

"I'll be watching your back," he said quietly.

"I'll give you something to watch," Kasumi replied in her usual spirited way. Kasumi turned away, keeping her eyes on Ramirez's, before severing the contact and stepping off ship. Ramirez slowly followed, felling the metal grating below his feet.

Shepard and his infiltration team were standing on top of the ring shaped portion of the ship. "Ramirez fall in!" Shepard ordered.

He looked towards the others to see them standing in a tight group. Shepard was kneeling on one knee, giving orders. Zaeed was burning through the ship, trying to make an entrance. Thane simply stood with his hands behind his back listening to Shepard.

Ramirez walked closer as Shepard began issuing orders and showing them the blueprints of the ship. "Here's is the plan. Ramirez and Thane, you two will proceed towards the prisoner cells and recover the agents. Maybe they can tell us what the Quarians are doing raiding Alliance tech." He then turned his attention to Kasumi and Zaeed. "Us three will try to gain access to the Quarians data servers and wiped clean any research into Alliance tech. If they have any sensitive material then we will dispose of it."

"By dispose, you mean destroy right?" Kasumi asked.

"Yea, that's the idea." Shepard took one last look at his team. "Once our objectives are complete we'll rendezvous at the ship's escape pods and Joker we'll pick us up. Remember not a single guard should be alerted to our presence."

"Does this mean we can't have a body count" Zaeed asked, burning through the Quarian ship.

"If possible try to keep fatalities to a zero. We are taking a big risk here and I don't want any repercussions."

"It's going to make things harder, but I think we'll be able to figure it out." Zaeed responded.

By this time, Zaeed managed to cut clear through the Quarians rather fragile armor. "Alright I'll go first." Zaeed then dropped.

Once he was inside the ship and began scanning his surroundings. Almost immediately he heard footsteps behind him. He responded in kind by pulling his pistol from his holster and turned around and aimed the gun at a slim humanoid figure who looked like as if he was wearing a hazardous materials suit of some kind. Zaeed couldn't see any skin, only two orbs behind a frosted black-tinted mask.

From what Zaeed could deduce, the young quarian seemed petrified. "Put your hands in the air and turn around." Zaeed motioned with his pistol.

"P-plea..se d-on't kil-l me-e I j-just got marr-ied." The quarian was practically shaking.

_'Obviously not a soldier.'_ Zaeed thought. Once the quarian was facing the other way, Zaeed responded by hitting the quarian in the back of the head with his pistol. The rest of the team dropped down as Zaeed hid the body.

"How much time do we have, before they realize that there's a hole in their ship?" Ramirez asked.

To answer his question a squad of Quarian marines came around the corner. "Hostiles!" hurriedly shouted a panicked Quarian marine as soon as he laid eyes on Shepard's team. They all raised their weapons, making ready to fire.

"Take them out." Shepard hissed. He didn't want to kill any quarian for that matter, but right now he didn't have a choice.

Before either side could open fire or blink, Thane dropped behind the Quarian squad from out of nowhere. He biotic punched the quarian on the far left, sending him flying and impacting the metal armor of the ship. The quarian marine was rendered unconscious and was injured in the process. The squad was taken by surprise as they didn't realize that they had a dangerous assassin behind them. Thane, then swept a Quarian's left leg causing her to lose balance and while in mid-air, Thane quickly punched her in her torso. The two remaining Quarian marines were now turned and facing Thane, however they did not fare much better. Thane kicked the Quarian's gun away from his hands, and punched him hard in the face. The affected Marine's helment grew an immense spider-web like cracks as a result. He did something similar to the last Quarian, swatting the gun away with his hands. Thane let loose a volley of punches in the Quarians shoulder blades and torso, causing the Quarian to hunch over, which allowed Thane to deliver a powerful uppercut, followed by a punch to the neck using his elbow.

All four marines laid on the ground unconscious and beaten. It had taken only fifteen seconds for Thane to take down all four marines. Thane turned to face Shepard, who along with the rest of the squad, was amazed by the Drell's skills. "Shepard, I believe now would be a good time to leave the area."

Shepard, now brought back to reality, shook his head and said "Right. Let's move people we have a mission to complete."

Shepard, lead Zaeed and Kasumi around the same corner that the Quarian marines came from, while Ramirez and Thane went the other way.

Each squad went their separate ways. As Thane and Ramirez sprinted towards the prisoner cell's, he told Thane "I gotta admit that was pretty badass."

"What you just saw was a life-time of constant training as an assassin. The Hanar require these services, since their excessive politeness leaves them at a disadvantage." Thane informed him.

Thane and Ramirez turned to a right corridor. When they were hearing voices, they focused on staying quiet. As the voices got clearer, Thane paid attention to the tone and let Ramirez worry about direction.

From what Thane could hear, there were three voices. One was fairly dry, sort of amused. Another was high-pitched and scared. Not as they thought their lives were in immediate danger from a drell assassin. The last one….it reminded Thane of a voice trying too hard to be authoritative.

"I want this to go off without a hitch do I make myself clear?" The leader asked.

"Prazza, why don't you shut-up and go bother someone else." One of the Quarians replied.

"Regar, I am your lieutenant and as such I demand respect. Furthermore-" Prazza was unable to finish as Regar's fist made contact with his face.

"How's that for respect?" He asked the now unconscious Prazza.

"Regar you can't do that. He's an officer." The female voice said.

"Illyana, getting handed a promotion from Real does not make him an officer."

"Don't let anyone hear you say that." She told him.

Before Ramirez and Thane could hear anymore, they advanced towards the prisoner cells.

* * *

**Prisoner Cells**

David Andrews was bored.

Normally, he'd have been reporting the events occurring in galactic affairs. While having been a Cerberus agent, he was also a reporter for the Citadel news network. Of course that was before he was captured investigating the Quarian raids on Alliance freighters. It seemed they didn't want their allegiance with the Batarians to be publicly known. So now he was stuck in a cell with a trained Hanar soldier, who went by the name 'Blasto'. This was undoubtedly a reference to the Hanar-centric Blasto vids. Well he couldn't complained much, he at least had a good companion for now.

"So any idea before we get let out?" Andrews asked the Quarian guard.

"NO!" He screamed, spinning around to face him. "For ancestor's sake, would you please stop asking me that!?"

Andrews frowned. Blasto, then confronted the Quarian guard. "This one recommends you do not be aggressive."

"Listen here you jellyfish. I am not paid enough to be guarding an ape and his stupid companion!" The Quarian was visibly shaking with anger now. "NOW DO ME A FAVOR AND SHUT UP!"

Andrews just stared at the Quarian, seemingly unaffected by his outburst. "So I take it you're letting me out now?"

The guard froze. Just as he was about to shout, the door which had been sealed and firmly locked was blasted off its hinges, slamming into the guard and sending him sprawling onto the ground unconscious.

"I believe Shepard asked us to be silent." Thane informed Ramirez as they both cleared the room.

Once he was assured the room was all clear, he turned his attention to Thane and told him, "Its not like the entire ship heard it. Besides we have to make this quick."

"Uh…are you here to get us out of here." A voice near them asked. They turned their attention to the voice and saw a average built human male wearing a red baseball cap in the opposite way. A blue Kevlar vest that had the word, press on it and khaki jeans. Next to him was a Hanar.

"Are you two the Cerberus agents?" Ramirez asked them.

They nodded their heads, or rather the reporter nodded his head and Ramirez thought that the Hanar nodded his head.

_'That explains how they got captured.' _Ramirez thought.

"Stand back." Thane warned them. They did as they were told and Thane took a step back before he hit the cell with his palm. A second later the cell fell, leaving Ramirez once again amazed at the skill of the drell assassin.

"This one would like to thank you for saving us." The Hanar told them.

"What are your names and why were you captured?' Ramirez asked them.

"My name is David Andrews and this here is….well he goes by the name Blasto. Anyway we, or rather I was reporting on the strange habits of the Quarians recently. Blasto here was my protection."

Ramirez stood dumbfounded. Never in a million years would he ever have thought that the Hanar could fight. "Okay….and what were you able to find?" Ramirez asked the reporter.

"Well you see that's the thing. The Quarians are raiding for the Batarians, in returned they get additional ships and supplies. This has allowed the Quarian race to more than double in size. But get this, any useful tech the Quarians find they keep and give the Batarians the scrapes. If word of this ever got out, the Quarians would be royally screwed."

"Well then, let's get you out of here." Ramirez told him.

Thane lead the way, while Ramirez brought up the rear as they made their way towards the escape pods.

* * *

**Sector D - Medical wing**

Shepard lead his team through the various hallways, trying to avoid the many Quarian patrols. There were some close calls, but for the most part they managed to navigate the Quarian ship undetected. "According to these prints, we are near the gun batteries. The R & D bay should be 200 meters from here."

"We can move quicker if we just blasted through." Zaeed suggested, getting tired of sneaking around.

"I told you, no fatalities. And keep your voice down." He reprimand Zaeed.

"Shepard, I see three guards walking over a catwalk overlooking the bay. We can't sneak past them and we can't get close enough to knock them out." Kasumi informed him and a silent whisper.

Shepard thought for a moment on how he could bypass the area the most effective way. Finally he came up with something. "Kasumi can you cloak and hack into the alarms?"

Already knowing what he was thinking, she gave a nod. Before she could cloak, she told Shepard that she would need to incapacitate the guards.

Shepard told her to do it.

As she cloaked, Shepard and Zaeed equipped their sniper rifles and aimed at the guards in case anything went wrong. He was reluctant, but he knew he had no other choice.

As Kasumi, using her incredible agility, managed to scale her way over underneath the catwalk. She was able to hear the Quarian's converstation.

"Can you believe we are stuck on guard duty?" Asked one of the Quarian marines.

"Well we are soldiers so I'd imagine no." One of them replied.

"Do you know who doesn't have patrols?"

"You are going to tell me." The same Quarian said.

"Vex. I bet Vex is in bed sleeping right now in her room. Her fat Quarian resting on a pillow."

Sighing, the other quarian said in a tone that quickly stated that he wasn't paying much attention. "That's Vex."

"I mean I make one mistake and I get guard duty, when I should be sleeping." The quarian said turning around. He had his back facing his two Quarian friends.

"C'mon do you guys think that really is fair?"

When he didn't hear any response, he turned and noticed that his two friends were missing. "Guys? Guys were are you?" Equipping his sidearm, he started investigating for signs of his friends. "C'mon this isn't funny. Guys?"

In his panicked stated, he failed to notice Kasumi was standing directly behind them. With a well place pinched on his nerve, the Quarian marine fainted into unconsciousness.

"Hey we're clear?" Kasumi whispered into her comm.-set.

Shepard, who with Zaeed was positioned in an over watch position, responded. "Yeah, we're clear Kasumi, but watch your corners." he warned.

"I see the alarm system heading towards there to disarm it." She told them.

"Alright, but be aware that I don't have eyes in that area. Me and Zaeed are moving to a new position and we'll switch to thermal. You'll be alone for a few seconds."

"Try and not to take so long, Shep." Kasumi then sprinted towards the alarm system. It was a console with many wires and commands. To an untrained eye, one wouldn't know what to do, but it was a piece of cake for Kasumi.

"Alright let's see what we have here." She muttered to herself. She began cutting wires and hacking into the terminal. When she was almost done, she got a warning from Shepard.

"Kasumi! I see two small dots. Check your six, I think someone is in there!"

Kasumi quickly turned around, arming her Locust SMG and aiming it at the intruder.

Behind her, was standing a Quarian holding two cups of turian filtered caffeine. They stood there staring into each other's eyes, neither one even bothering to blink. The Quarian slowly turned his head sideways to where an alarm stood.

Kasumi followed his glance and immediately knew what the Quarian was thinking. "I wouldn't recommended it."

The Quarian turned to face her, then the alarm, then back at her as he tried to make up his mind. Finally he made his choice and made a move over towards the alarm.

Kasumi responded with a burst of fire. The shots hit the Quarian's shoulder, throwing him of balance. However, the spin from the shots that Kasumi fired made the Quarian's face the alarm and was falling in that direction.

"So close." Kasumi muttered as she ran from the area. A second later, the alarms were rung.

"Well so much for stealth." Zaeed said as he switched over to his assault rifle.

Immediately Quarian marines poured into the area and they opened fire on Shepard and Zaeed.

Shepard and Zaeed targeted a squad and shot four rounds at their faces. They all were all dead before they hit the ground.

They took cover as a company sized force engaged them. Kasumi dropped from above shooting the Quarians. She was able to kill two and injure another two. She spun into cover as a squad focused on her.

Zaeed threw a frag grenade killing a dozen marines. "See Shepard, this way is quicker." He said as he shot another marine.

Shepard didn't give a reply as he fired his sniper rifle. He killed a marine right away. He fired on another one, and he went down hard. A high pitched scream could be heard as Shepard shot the Quarian right in his testicles. The Quarian's near him, cringed at the sight of blood and meat pouring from between the unfortunate marine's legs.

Zaeed laughed at the sight. "Damn best shot I've ever seen Shepard." He fired at three Quarians and managed to kill two of them. The third one, however managed to shoot at Zaeed.

"Fuckin bugger!" Zaeed shouted as a round tore through his arm. A hole the size of a grain of sand could be seen on Zaeed's right arm and blood was spilling from it.

"A little wound is going to keep you down?" Shepard asked, clearly taunting him.

"Not in your life. Damn good thing I'm left handed." Zaeed grunted.

"Kasumi, Zaeed follow me!" Shepard shouted as he sprinted from cover. The Quarians aimed their rifles at Shepard as he charged them.

Hundreds of Quarian marines lined the various catwalks and in front of Shepard, were no less than 60 marines all aiming their rifles at him. The Quarians made one fatal error, they forgot about Zaeed. Immediately when Shepard ran from cover, he got out his missile launcher and fired at the catwalks.

Explosions rocked the bay as the catwalks collapsed on themselves. Wreckage fell from above and the marines ran for safety. This allowed Shepard and his team to make a run from it. They fired from the hip as they made their way towards the doors. All around them bodies fell as their rounds made contact with the Quarian marines. Zaeed fired another missile at the steel doors destroying them in a massive fireball. As they ran through it they noticed charred remains of the marines who were standing behind the door.

"Poor buggers." Zaeed said as he ran.

Kasumi fired her SMG and pistol simultaneously trying to thin out the Quarian numbers. She slide on the floor taking out three Quarians by shooting them in their thighs and legs. As they sprinted the narrow hallway, Zaeed threw three frag grenades at a corridor where a squad of marines were approaching from.

The last thing, their orb eyes saw was the smiling face pin on the grenades as they exploded and took out anyone in their radius.

"There!" Shepard indicated to another set of doors. "Zaeed you know what to do."

Zaeed responded by putting two missiles into the doors. As they exploded, Shepard and his team ran straight into the catwalk.

As they as they did, they came into a large hangar bay. All around them stood hundreds of marines aiming their rifles, sniper rifles, turrets, and grenade launchers.

Shepard, Kasumi, and Zaeed stood back to back as they were outnumbered and outgunned.

Over the loud speaker, came the voice of a Quarian. Male by the sounds of it commanded, "Attention Geth sympathizers stand down you are surrounded!"

"Any more bright ideas Shepard?" Zaeed sarcastically asked.

Shepard ignored him, preferring to instead evaluate the situation they were in. "Where are you Ramirez?" Shepard whispered to himself as he glanced at the immense number of troops.

There was no way they could escape from this situation.

* * *

**QMS Aleria**

**Command Deck**

**9 Minutes earlier**

The moment the Aleria detected a hull breach, Rael had sent a squad of combat engineers to fix the problem. Warning sirens were going off on the deck. "Will someone cut that racket!" Rael hollored over the alarms and the frantic voices of his crew.

The alarm mercifully was cut off and the sensor operator immediately started reporting that the hull breach was now fixed. Admiral Zorah! The breach seems to be now plugged."

"Thank the ancestors for that. For a moment there I thought I was going to lose my mind." Sighing, Rael asked his one of his ensigns "When will the Batarians be arriving?"

The ensign tapped in some commands on his console and an image appeared on the main screen, which showed the expected time arrival of the Batarian cruiser.

"Only a few more minutes and this will be done." Rael said as he glanced over through the schedule. Allying with the Batarians caused a massive debate among the Quarians. Xen, Gerrell, and himself were in support of this 'alliance'. Raan and that coward Koris were completely against it. They argued that if they were to ally with the Batarians then thier treatment among the council races would be even worse that what it already was, since it would appear that as they were in support of slavery. They most likely feared direct intervention from the Alliance, since in turn for materials and ships from the Batarians, they were required to conduct raids on Alliance freighters and acquire any technology they could. In the end, Rael's side was able to win and already their population was twice the size it already was.

_'If only it could have been simpler.' _Rael thought.

It seems their paranoia of the Salarians have caused the Alliance to encrypt and bobby trap all of their classified technology. There were some instances were a Quarian ship would exploded from a virus embedded inside a AI data core or would go into self-shut down. Rael didn't enjoy risking Quarians for the sake of slavers, but it was a small sacrifice compared to the possibility of regaining their home world, Rannoch. It aggravated Rael that since the induction of the humans, the Citadel races all seemed to have forgotten the massive hypocrisy in the treatment of the Humans and Quarians. They both created AIs, however the Quarians were forced into exile and were threaten with extinction constantly, while the Humans gained access to the Council and lived a live off luxury.

He didn't care for the losses of any Alliance personal. They deserved death as far as he was concerned for not only creating those blasted AIs of theirs, but also for preventing the Quarian race from attacking the Geth and reclaiming their home world. All relays heading into the Persus viel were heavily guarded to avoid another war. The expansion by the council into the Terminus system caused the Hegemony to look for any potential allies. And that was how, the Quarians were able to produce exponentially and have the backing of a galactic superpower.

Of course this had caused her daughter, Tali to disowned him as family. Rael couldn't understand, he was doing all of this for her.

'_Why can't she just understand that this for the better. This could lead us to our home world.' _Rael thought.

"Admiral!" One of his ensigns called for his attention. "We are receiving a transmission from the Batarian cruiser."

Rael pondered this for a moment. Deciding that he needed to make sure that the Batarians were alone before giving his crew further orders. "Scan the entire system. I want to make sure that they don't have more ships in the vicinity and if there are any more make sure to go to FTL."

The ensign gave the data being displayed on his console a quick overview. "Scans show only one other vessel in the area besides us Admiral and that clearly is the Batarian cruiser."

Rael felt confident enough that he could take out the Batarian cruiser if the captain of the vessel decided to double-cross him. The Neema and Light star were hiding behind a moon in the system, which allowed them to hide their signatures.

"Very well provide them with docking coordinates." Rael instructed.

"Affirmative Admiral. Coordinates sent. Anything else sir?"

"No that would be all." Rael got up from his command chair and made his way to the docking bay, with an escort of armed marines. "Tell the Batarians to be careful, the last thing we need is a confrontation." Rael told his ensigns.

"How are you feeling Admiral?," asked a marine.

"Honest I'm a little nervous. All I have is my cruiser and Gerrell's dreadnought and a additional cruiser."

When they arrived at the airlock, Rael saw the Batarian captain approach with an armed escort himself.

The Batarian captain was named Halek Lorsan. He was a minor captain in the Batarian navy and was considered to be poor choice to lead anything more than a cruiser. This was the reason he was stuck doing deals with the Quarians.

"Captain Lorsan, it's a pleasure to have you onboard." Rael lied.

"It's a pleasure to be here. I assume you have what I came for?" He asked.

"Of course right this way." Rael motioned to follow him down the hallway.

"As you know, it takes much resources to obtain Alliance technology and I was wondering the payment that would match our efforts."

"Wondering what? You're unsatisfied with the pay the Hegemony is paying you?" Lorsan spat out in anger.

Rael held his hands up in defense. "No, no. It's just we can't simply repair or replace the materials and men that are lost attempting to gain this level of technology."

"Well what have you managed to obtain?"

"Well we have gathered, what humans call 'solar panels'. What it is, is a set of panels that harness power from the sun to produce unlimited energy."

"YOU IMBECILE! THAT IS NOT ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY!" Lorsan shouted, aiming his sidearm at Rael's face. The Quarian marines and Batarian guards each equipped their own guns and aimed at each other.

The alarms suddenly blared across the ship. Rael, still nervous at having a gun pointed at his face, got on his omni-tool and connected to the command bridge. "Flight lieutenant what is the situation?" Rael asked.

"Sir, we have intruders!"

"What?! Get the marines and seize these hostiles!"

"Aye, Admiral."

Turning his attention to the Batarian captain, Rael attempted to negotiate. "Well it seems we have intruders. If you maintain a civil attitude, we will gladly allow you to take the intruders as slaves."

The Batarian captain thought it for a moment. Wanting to make sure that his trip wasn't a total waste, he put his gun down and nodded his head. Before Rael could give a sigh of relief, he was grabbed by his facemask and pulled right into Lorsan's face. "Make sure to never make this mistake again." He then let go of Rael.

Rael kept his mouth shut on his treatment and lead the group towards where the hostiles were about to be trapped.

It five minutes for five minutes for Rael to lead the group to where the Quarian marines had surrounded the intruders.

Once they reached the hangar bay, they saw three soldiers wearing white and yellow armor. Rael stood in front in them and asked "Who are you? And why are you on my ship?"

Shepard didn't give an answer, preferring to keep quiet. This did not please Rael one bit. "So not going to talk? Well then human, you'll be happy to know that my acquaintance here," Rael motioned to the Batarian captain standing beside him, "will be taking you and your comrades on his ship and will belong to him now _human_." He spat out the last word with venom and hatred.

"Well out of the frying pan and into the fire." Zaeed said as he clutched his rifle closely.

"Attention humans stand down, you're surrounded. Give us the data file and you will be taken into custody. We can either do this is the easy way or the hard way."

Shepard glanced at the quarian who had given him the order. The Quarian was aiming a turret at them, positioned over a catwalk with many other guards at his side.

It was just then that Thane swept two marine's legs and kicked a third towards a group of four, throwing all of them off balance. He engaged the Quarian on the turret by punching him in the mask and banging his head on it. The Quarian stunned was no match for the drell assassin. Than then kicked him off the catwalk and the marine landed with a thud. Thane then repositioned the turret and shot the other catwalks support beams causing them to collapse and the Quarians as a result fell to the ground. Thane jumped off the catwalk and started spiriting towards Shepard, who by now had taken positions near a hangar.

"GET THEM!" Rael ordered his marines. He did not want the soldiers to escape and warn the Alliance or worse, the Council, of what he and by extension his people were doing.

However, a Blue jay troop carrier appeared over the hanger, and Shepard was relieved to the see the pilot. Manning the weapons was and piloting the transport was Ramirez. "Never fear, evac is here!"

Ramirez fired 4 missiles into the hangar bay, causing all the marines to scramble for cover. Ramirez then repositioned the aircraft to allow the team to get onboard. Shepard was surprise to see a hanar and a human were already on the transport.

"Hello this one goes by the name blasto, and the human over there is named Andrews." The Hanar said indicating to himself and his companion.

"Aw fuck it! Shepard we have to go!" Zaeed screamed, shooting another missile.

"Everyone on board!" Shepard ordered his team. Each of them got on one by one. When Shepard was satisfied no one was left behind, he got on the transport.

Heading to manned the turret, he said "You're late."

"Yeah well take it out of my tip." Ramirez shot back. He then pressed a button and music started to blare across the aircraft.

"What are you doing?" Shepard asked him with raised eyebrows.

"What does it look like?" Ramirez rhetorically asked. "I'm putting on inspirational escape music." He said as he pressed on the thrusters to max speed.

"Shepard, I'm getting a message from the Normandy." He informed him.

"Patch them in."

Joker's cheery voice was heard throughout the ship. "Shepard so glad I was able to reach you."

"Joker we are kind of busy. Whatever you are going to say just spit it out."

"Well the Illusive man wants to talk to you once you get back to the Normandy. By the way Captain, who are your friends?"

"What a-" The Blue jay shook as fire from enemy interceptors hit near the engines. "Ramirez get us to the Normandy ASAP."

"Right hold on." Ramirez used his flares as he put the aircraft into evasive maneuvers. Doing a barrel roll, Ramirez was able to dodge the enemy missiles.

The Normandy, still cloaked, fired its forward particle accelerator cannons and the pair of enemy interceptors were destroyed.

"Thanks Joker. We owe you one." Ramirez thanked the pilot of the Normandy.

"No problem, Commander. You know maybe next time I can give you flying lessons."

Ramirez laughed at Joker's pun. "Thanks, but I didn't train to be a pilot."

Once inside the Normandy hangar, Ramirez parked the blue jay in the designated helipad. The ground team got off and Shepard made his way towards the comm-room to have his talk with the Illusive man.

* * *

**QMS Aleria**

"You incompetent fool! You can't even subdue a squad of mercenaries! I shall kill you where you stand!" Lorsan at this point was beyond furious. Not only had Rael failed to deliver unique Alliance tech, but he also managed to allow mercenaries to escape.

"I swear to you this is only a minor setback."Rael pleaded. He knew that Batarians were not known for their patience.

"NO! No more setbacks from this point forward. This ship is now the property of the Hegemony Navy. Lorsan declared.

"WHAT! You can't just….but this is a Quarian ship."

"It was a Quarian ship now it is a Batarian ship. Resist and you will be shot. Annoy me and you will be shot. Fuss and you-"

"Will be shot." Rael finished.

"It's good that I made myself clear. Men relieve the Quarians of command over this vessel." Soon the Aleria docked with the Batarian cruiser and Batarian troops started to pour into the ship.

Secretly Rael, using his onmi-tool ordered for Gerrell to leave the area. The pair of ships did as they were told. Rael could only dread what his daughter was going to think of him.


	6. Chapter 6- The spark

3-3-2184 1944 hours (Citadel standard time)

* * *

**SSV Normandy **

**Corvette**

Shepard walked towards the ship's communications deck, beside the armory. Stepping inside, a hologram of the Illusive man smoking a Cuban cigar appeared. "What's going on?" He asked the aging, grey haired, blue eyed man.

Taking a puff of his cigar, the Illusive man addressed Shepard. "We're at war. Humanity is under attack. You and your team may be all that stands between humanity and the greatest threat of our brief existence. "

"What are you talking about? Is it the Reapers?" he asked.

"As of two hours ago the Hegemony has declared war on the Alliance. All Alliance fleets are coordinating patrols along the Attican Traverse. Due to their limited ships, the Alliance can only wage a defensive war."

"Which means that we will have to fight this war ourselves." Shepard finished with determination in eyes.

"You are only half-right Shepard. Cerberus will be leading the charge against the Batarians. This allows us to work outside of galactic law and hit the Batarians where it hurts them the most."

"And where will that be exactly?"

"Their home world, but that will take time. Right now Cerberus frigates are conducting raids on their shipping lanes, allowing time for us to launch a coordinated assault into their territory."

"What's our mission?"

"I need you to lead a small task force and capture a moon in the Maroon Sea. We have reports of that the Batarians are manufacturing ships and weapons. I personally believe that this is a launch pad for incursions into Alliance territory."

"Do you have any idea on their defenses?"

"That is why I'm sending you. If their expecting a large fleet to attack their doorstep, then they won't be expecting a small infiltration team. You'll have three days until then, good luck Shepard." The Illusive man disconnected the com-link and started patching into Alliance fleet QEC's.

Shepard took in the details and decided it would be best to have some rest. Immensely tired from the mission, Shepard staggered to his cabin and fell on his bed. Almost immediately he fell asleep.

* * *

Down in the gun battery, Garrus and Nyreen were having a conversation about different types of guns.

"You do realize that a Turian main gun is able to fire more rapidly." Nyreen stated.

"But the Alliance's rail gun fires more power." Garrus argued, as he was attempting to calibrate the Normandy's weapon systems.

"At the cost of rate of fire." She countered.

"Maybe, but then again have a gunner like me and you won't be able to fire more than once."

Nyreen rolled her eyes at Garrus's immense ego. "Why don't you take some time off of that battery and let's go to my quarter to release some tension." She said with a hint of seductiveness.

Garrus smiled at the idea, but being a work alcoholic he couldn't stop working. "Uh…if it's all the same to you I'd like to do it after I'm done with the calibrations."

Nyreen shook her head with a small smirk. "Why do I make you uncomfortable, Garrus?" As soon as she finished she left the battery, but Garrus didn't notice that she had left the room.

Garrus, taking the silence as an indication to continue, said the most awkward thing ever. " You don't ever have to worry about making me uncomfortable. If you'd like I'll gladly test your flexibility. You know me, I always like to savor the last shot right before I pop in the heat sink." He turned around and to his horror saw Ramirez standing in the door way.

Neither said a word and silence filled the room. Finally Ramirez, backing away, said "I'll just let you get back to work."

As the doors closed, Garrus stared at the door and muttured "Right. 'Cause I'm in a great place to optimize firing algorithms right now."

* * *

**Cerberus Headquarters**

In spite of it's obvious lacking in numeric areas, the Alliance Navy was strong in diversity and in was one of most technologically advanced navies in the galaxy. The destroyer, essentially a larger, more powerful frigate is able to offer speed and power. Able to maneuver from Dreadnought fire, the destroyer is able to hunt frigates and scrap a cruiser if it has surprise on its side. It was one of the ships able to retrofitted into a 'drone ship', despite its name it still required a crew and a captain, but did not require Alliance soldiers onboard as the ship's defenses were controlled by an AI. This frees frigates to launch flanking attacks on the enemy fleet without having to worry about protecting capital ships. The destroyers, in turn allows corvettes to act as large troop carries and make hit and run attacks.

Another ship type, first designed before first contact was the battle cruiser. Midway between cruiser and battleship size, these vessels were designed for two purposes; hard, fast assaults and capital ship class commerce raiding. The vessels were armed with two large rail gun cannons, each measuring 367 meters in length. Like their larger cousins, battleships, battle cruisers are made to sustain heavy hits and dish it out. A unique trait among Alliance ships, with the exception of frigates and corvettes, is that their main cannons are able to arc in a certain degree allowing for effective knife fight engagements.

The greatest and unquestionably most powerful elements of the human navy are the carriers. In the ocean going navies of Earth's great super powers, had long believed that aircraft carriers were far superior to battleships. For all the power that battle ships provided, they were incredibly vulnerable to the aerial assaults of dive bombers and torpedo planes. This mentality had carried over to the space bound navy; unlike most races, whose first kilometer ship had the biggest gun the people could build at the time, the Alliance navy stuffed theirs with fighters and bombers. They are heavily protected with armor and their hangars are compartmentalized to reduce damage to the Carriers assets, nevertheless they are still vulnerable to dreadnought fire.

Initially when the first dreadnought was built, many critics deemed it a waste of resources as they believe to be venerable to a carriers' bombers, however in the ocean where you could sink a ship, in space one would have to destroy it meaning a guarantee in a loss of many vessels for one ship. This allows the Alliances other ships to quickly pick off the strays. With the development of shields, the supremacy of fighters over dreadnoughts was no longer certain. The torpedoes launched from fighters would take time to wear down a ship's shields. Thus the Alliance navy, begrudgingly , accepted the large ships into their fold. It was here that the Illusive man's great-great-grandfather Frederic Harper's influence could be seen. Lobbying the Alliance, Frederic was able to stop the Alliance's over reliance on the large vessel by creating a degree that at maximum of 20 dreadnoughts could be active at any time. He was also the architect for the Alliance's Titan program. His contributions to humanity earned him immense wealth

Fast forward to the present and Frederic's great-great-grandson was following in his footsteps. By 2178 the Illusive man managed to assemble an impressive sized fleet. Cerberus maintained and fielded four different fleets with their large income through private donors and many inventions. The total number of ships Cerberus had at their disposal was 1 dreadnought, 10 super carriers, 17 carriers, 25 battle cruisers, 60 cruisers, 72 destroyers, 90 frigates, and 180 corvettes. The Illusive man plan to use all his vessels not guarding his station to wage war on the Batarians. Maybe if he was lucky, he might be able to attend his daughter's birth date. He longed to his wife Eva, and his family again, but other matters made this rather difficult.

As of now, he was preparing the five hundred fifty million Cerberus soldiers about to engage in the upcoming war. Truth be told the Illusive man was a little depressed, he was sending young men and women to their deaths.

_'If that is the price we have to pay, then so be it.' _The Illusive man continued to make preparations, hoping to end the war as fast as he could.

* * *

**Council Embassy**

**Udina's office**

Udina sat at his table, flicking through his report to the Alliance High Command, anxiously waiting for their response. His request was bold, for an essentially untried black ops organization to fight the Batarian navy. He hoped his previous service as Human Councilor to the Alliance would sway them.

Udina had made several other requests, some big and some small, but the most important ones were those concerning the allocation of new personnel to establish several new bases on the independent colony world of High Key. The locals will no doubt be unhappy, and maybe even hostile, but when the Batarian navy is at their doorstep there was no doubt that they will be gracious.

Udina's assistant, Eric Bland, was working on his data-pad. He was responsible for reporting any requests from Udina and filing any responses from Alliance High command. The current Alliance Director, Michelson 'Iron Mike' Granger was kind and generous when he needed to be and cold and ruthless when the situation demanded it. At the age of 65, he is amongst the most decorated leaders in the Alliance. Udina just hoped he would see things his way.

Glancing at the newsfeed, Udina couldn't help but feel a little nervous. The Alliance has never actually participated in a full scale warfare, alone. The other Councilors have deemed this an 'Alliance matter', hoping to avoid being drawn into the conflict. Udina could understand their reasons, but it didn't mean he had to like it.

He was snapped out of his trance by a soft cough from his assistant, who had walked over to Udina's desk unnoticed until now. "Councilor, we have received a transmission from Alliance High Command," he murmured softly, his eyes locked on Udina's. "Director Granger would like to talk to you, regarding a matter of great importance that he would not divulge to me."

Udina nodded eagerly, presuming that the Director was messaging him solely due to his report and the request that he had made. It was only when his transmission was patched through, and he saw the grave look on the Director's face, his grey green eyes burning with a barely withheld fury, that Udina began to understand that the cause behind this transmission was something much more serious. Eric grudgingly exited the room after Udina ordered him to, clearly he was unhappy being kept out of the loop.

"Director," Udina began, smiling warmly. "I wasn't expecting such a speedy reply to my report. I do hope and the rest of High Command have seen it fit to grant me, my few, meager requests."

The Director merely frowned, shaking his head slowly. "We have received your reports, Udina, but that is not the sole reason behind this call, though I'll address your requests in a moment."

He paused and took a breath, glancing at a figure behind the camera, out of Udina's field of vision, and raised his eyebrows, clearly signaling for that person to depart. After a few seconds his eyes refocused on Udina's, and with a small sigh he began to speak once more.

"Three days ago, the agricultural colony of Freedom's Progress went dark. When Alliance forces investigated the planet, they found the colony completely deserted. There were no signs of struggle or traces on the reason behind the disappearance. We initially believed that Hegemony forces launched an all out assault on the planet. That was until an A.C.S team lead by one Staff Sergeant James Vega, were able to find evidence proving otherwise. They managed to bring back a tape showing the colonists were abducted by Collectors."

Udina rose from his desk and slammed his fist on the table. "Impossible! The Collectors are a myth, a legend, a Terminus system ghost story."

The Director paused again and took another deep breath, frowning heavily, the bags under his eyes becoming even more prominent at this angle. "I am afraid to say otherwise. The official story will be that Batarians attack the planet, however as the Alliance tries to secure its borders I'm going to need Cerberus to take the brunt of the attack. We are stretch thin as it is and we can't deploy troops into the Terminus Systems without leaving our worlds unprotected."

The Director sighed, holding his left hand to his brow. "We will grant you your requests for an increase in financing. We will also agree to grant you access to one of our old shipyards decommissioned in '64 on Old Traveler."

Udina cringe his fingers, not entirely appeased by the Director's offering, but….it was tempting. The added access to a shipyard in particular would be a bonus.

After some initial thought, Udina made his choice. "I accept your request, Director," He announced slowly, maintaining eye-contact. "But if you intend on using Cerberus I recommend we switch to a war-level ecomony."

"We have given more factories to Alliance suppliers, however that is all that we can do. This is not a war we can wage without heavy losses to our way of life Udina. I hope you can make do with what you have and make sure to keep good relations with the Citadel races. I don't want you to burn bridges."

Udina gave a nod of his head and the Director severed the link. He asked his personal V.I to summon his assistant back into his office. Eric entered through the doors in seconds. "May I ask what the transmission was about, Councilor?" he began before giving him a chance to speak.

Udina merely rolled his eyes in mock-frustration and gave him a tight-lipped smile. "The good Director has informed me of new developments that has occurred recently. Do not worry it is nothing to worry about."

Eric stared at Udina, clearly he did not believe the human Councilor, but refrained from saying otherwise. "Well that is good news. By the way have you seen the news recently?"

Udina gave his assistant a look. Eric responded with turning on the screen TV in his office. Immediately Citadel News began broadcasting, with the usual Asari anchor, Celar Solen.

"We interrupt your usual programming for an important news update. Just minutes ago the Batarian navy has launched an all out attack on Alliance territory in the Attican Traverse. We go to Foarius Laforeck currently near the colony Iris, onboard the _SSV New Hope._ Foaruis what can you tell us on what is going on?"

The screen switched to a light-skin Turian. Judging from his size and build he was relatively young, possibly just had gotten out of the turian military. "Well as you can see from the observation deck behind me, the Alliance Navy has prepared every available ship they can to defend every colony and others near the Hegemony-Alliance border. From what I've seen, only independent colonies have been hit, thus far. No official Alliance colony has been actually been attacked, however as you can clearly see by the massive battle group, behind me, guarding the planet the Alliance is taking every precaution it can to protect its colonies that are near a mass relay."

The screen showed both Solen and Laforeck as they informed Citadel races on the issue. "What is the overall strategy of the Alliance?" she asked her co-anchorman.

"From what I was able to gather from Captain Tadius Ahern, the Alliance's strategy for the war is to minimize casualties, by forcing the Batarians to stretch their forces and engage the Alliance in their territory where they hold the advantage and have prepared heavy defenses."

"A sound strategy, but one that is also risky. Can the Alliance hold against a longer space-faring race?"

"True, however keep in mind that the Alliance navy, while immensely powerful, is approaching the size of the Volus and cannot risk the chance of stretching their forces. Sti-"

* * *

**SSV Shakespeare**

**Cruiser**

Laforeck was interrupted by an Alliance soldier, who approached him, with weapon drawn. "Sir, you must leave this area now or take cover in the hangar bay."

Laforeck signaled the camera man, which was a Volus by the name of Bib Fide, to cut transmission. Fide did as instructed and lowered the camera.

"What is going on?" Laforeck asked clamly. His years in the Turian army has give him the experience to be calm in every scenario.

"We have just gotten word that the Batarian 9th fleet is about to attack! We need you to get to safety."

"As a turian, you can rest assured that I do not need any better treatment than any of you." Laforeck responded with grace and humility.

The Alliance soldier gave him, her sidearm. "Well take this then. If things get FUBAR, then you might as well be able to defend yourselves. If you need any more weapons take the mass effect powered rifles in the training hall."

"What is your…name Earth-clan." Fide asked.

"Jenifer." The Alliance soldier said as she departed to her assigned post.

"C'mon we need to gather better weapons and quit flirting with the female humans. They aren't going to chose a Volus over the plenty of males onboard this ship." Laforeck told his co-worker as they both walked towards the armory. Laforeck took the camera in hand as he was able to carry it far easier than his companion."

"You don't know…that. I might just…get lucky."

"As the humans say, keep dreaming."

Upon reaching the training range, Laforeck asked the requisitions officer for two rifles, a shotgun, and a sidearm.

"You do realize that if I do that, you will have to be under supervision. My supervision." The human stated.

"Yes, yes of course." Laforeck said with impatience.

"Alright. What's your name so I can put in the record?"

"Foarius Laforeck and my co-worker's name is Bib Fide." The requisition officer typed the information in his console and both the Turian and the Volus separate records popped up. Seeing how neither had a criminal record he gave each of the two reporters weapons and he himself took one.

"Don't you Earth-clan…have better weapons for…yourselves?' Fide asked.

"Pfft, that is only for soldiers. I'm only a requisition officer and as such, have access only to the weapons that I need to be in charge of. By the way my name is Daniel if you guys didn't notice the name tag." Embarrassingly enough, neither did notice, but were thankful that they were able to avoid a rather awkward moment.

Just then the sound of Admiral Ahern's voice could be heard. "Attention all Alliance vessels prepare for enemy contact. I repeat prepare for enemy contact." The ship shook as it moved into position, along for all other Alliance vessels for upcoming defense.

"Well this might just …be interesting." Fide said as he held up two pistols.

Daniel and Foaruis glanced at each other, not sharing the enthusiasm of their Volus companion.


	7. Chapter 7 - War

A/N: Here is the next chapter and please review, I really enjoy reading them. Don't make me beg like the last story please. Anyway enjoy.

* * *

3-3-2184 2034 hours (Citadel standard time)

* * *

**SSV Terra Nova **

**Super carrier**

**Alliance Colony Rover**

Captain Ahern, a man at the age of 38 with brown short hair, was a relatively new captain in the alliance navy. Having graduated from the Citadel academy on Mars, he understood the concept of warfare. Standing in front of the holographic images of his ships, he watched as they got into combat formation. It wouldn't be long until the Batarian fleet would arrive in the system.

While the Alliance usually focuses on mobile defenses, they were keen enough to established fixed emplacements such as the rail gun cannons in orbit over the planet or the numerous nuclear mines near the relay.

At his disposal, Ahern had 56 Alliance ships, 2 super carriers, 3 carriers, 8 battle cruisers, 12 cruisers, 19 destroyers, and 12 frigates. It was a rather small battle group made mostly for routine patrols than frontline combat. Ahern was responsible for doing routine patrols in vector 15, which would mean covering 6 core worlds and an Elcor colony, spread out over various systems. Only two contain Mass Relays, which meant that only two areas were really prioritize. However, he had gotten a tip from an anonymous source saying the Batarians were poised to strike in this sector. Ahern relayed the information to Alliance Command, unfortunately they were more concerned with protecting colonies closer to Batarian territory. Nevertheless Ahern remained vigilant.

In charge of the Alliance ground force was Major Jen Rose; they numbered at 720,000 soldiers and an extra 6,000 militia spread through the planet. Unlike the Batarians, whom would use large numbers to overwhelm defenders, the Alliance prefers quality over quantity similar to that of the Salarians. While in case of war the Alliance army can become as large as 4.2 billion soldiers, however Alliance command was very reluctant to mobilized that many men and women.

"What is our current status?" Ahern asked his XO, a dark skinned man by the name Abur Jackson.

"We are currently at Def-Con 2, sir." Jackson replied with a thick Eastern European accent.

Ahern stared at the relay from the command deck of his super carrier. '_I can handle the action. But it's the waiting that kills me…the anticipation of wondering when the enemy is going to make his move.' _

Ahern was brought out of his thoughts, when Jackson informed of activity near the relay. "Captain the relay…it's powering up."

"Well time for the fireworks." Getting on all available Alliance ships' QEC, he said "All ships prepare for combat. The Colony and its people are counting on your to stop the barbarians here, god speed." He cut the connection and watched as hundreds of ships poured through the relay. Some of which, he had never seen. What little fear he had, was now gone as he was prepared to give his life for the Alliance.

"Quarry, get a message to the Alliance. Tell them we are under attack!"

"Message sent, Captain." Quarry, the ship's AI said.

* * *

**HSV Black Diamond**

**Dreadnought**

Rear Admiral Sidek Gef aligned his ships as best he could. He smiled at the improved armor his ships had, thanks to the Quarian's and their engineering skills.

"Sir, our ships are approaching the relay." An ensign informed him.

Smiling, Gef said "Good. Are the diversionary craft in position?" he asked.

"Yes sir. They are amassing with the first wave."

"Excellent." What Gef was referring to was the numerous outdated frigates scheduled for decommission. Unlike other Batarian commander's, Gef was not naïve and arrogant. He was cunning and ruthless and was able to find a weakness in his enemies.

Prior to the discovery of the Systems Alliance, the Hegemony was, unquestionably, the most powerful associate race of Citadel space. Over 18 billion of its inhabitants were in arms and another 72 million in reserves, though these were the unlucky slaves force to fight for their freedom. The Batarian navy once had 8 fleets with 400 vessels in each, however with the Quarian's engineering skills and the Collector's technology, the Batarian navy now had over 16 fleets, double what they once had in 2178. Both their military and economy, though not by much, increased slowly bidding their time to strike at the Alliance. They could also count on various mercenaries and slaver groups to aid them in their attack if it ever came to war with the other races.

After various calculations were made, the Hegemony concluded that only through relay 748, the most lightly guarded, yet furthest away from Batarian territory, was the only route in which they could launch an attack. Despite this, they knew that if the worst came to pass, they could find themselves fighting the whole Citadel races, however they an ace in the hole, the Collectors.

Gef wickedly smiled as he was about to be the first Batarian ever to burn an Alliance colony to the ground.

As his ships neared the relay, Gef made one last statement to all 600 of his ships, aided by 250 Quarian warships, though reluctantly, and 400 collector cruisers. "Take pride my fellow brothers, today we erase this stain on our honor! Rejoice the blight of the galaxy is about to meet its end!" Cheers were heard all over the radio.

* * *

**SSV Terra Nova **

**Super carrier**

"Sir, we have contact with over one thousand ships, about 400 of which are unidentified! The rest are either Batarian or…Quarian!?" Jackson was left speechless. He would have never guessed that the Quarian's would blindly attack any military super power. '_Well there's a first time for everything.' _He thought.

The unidentified grey vessels appeared round-ish in nature, having a honey combed design. The armor plating showed the protection and armor that it had attached. The massive cannon, or what Jackson thought to be the cannon in the middle of the ship, looked like it could do some damage.

"Detonate mines at defensive line Alpha and I want those orbital Ion cannons firing now!" Ahern ordered.

Near the relay a massive fireball of nuclear fire enveloped over 87 frigate class vessels and 5 of the strange ships, destroying them all in a bright light.

Ahern couldn't place it, but he felt something wasn't right. _'Surely they Batarians know about the mines, so why are they sacrificing so many ships?'_ He questioned in his head

He was brought out of his thoughts when his ship shook from the alien ordinance as it struck the hull. Alarms started blaring on the bridge. " Damage report!", Ahern yelled.

"We've got multiple hull-breaches: starboard side! Decompression on decks: 5, 8, and 10! We have several casualties!"

"Sealing all exposed decks." Quarry said.

"Scramble all fighters and bombers and get us even as far as away as you can from the enemy ships! Jackson get me a line to Major Rose!" Ahern ordered. Even though his carriers were in the rear of the battle group, a few of the unidentified ships were able to hit them, even from that range. Ahern didn't think it was possible, but here he was seeing otherwise.

"On it. Sir, the Ion cannons are firing." Jackson informed the Captain. He was at work, multitasking between setting up the connection to the Alliance ground forces, and trying to update the Captain of any new developments of the battle. The AI Quarry saw this and took over informing the captain of new developments.

In geosynchronous orbit above the planet were fifteen heavy rail gun cannons. Each locked on an enemy ship, the muzzles of their cannons aimed towards the unknowns. Their barrels flared in silence as they fired their shots. However the Collectors, though the Alliance was not yet aware of their name, were aware of the Alliance's defensive capabilities and made sure to place frigates in their path. 45 frigates and 1 unlucky Collector cruiser was destroyed.

"Sir, Major Rose is on the line." Jackson informed the Admiral.

On the holo-projector, the image of Major Rose appeared. She was naturally tan, with bundled up black hair. She was wearing Alliance armor, it seems she too was expecting trouble.

"Captain what the hell is going on!?" Rose demanded.

"Major Rose, we are under attack. I need you to mobilize your men as quickly as you can!"

"W-hat..are you bullshitting me!?"

"'I'm an Alliance navy captain, bullshitting isn't in my job description. Now I need you to prepare your ground forces."

"Alright. Good luck Captain." Major Rose disconnected, leaving Ahern with a crew depending on him to get them out of this situation.

Ahern turned to his AI. "Quarry, can you hack into the unidentified ships and see if you can find any intel on them?"

"I'll try my best captain." Quarry then proceeded to try to hack his way into the enemy ships. At his first attempted he saw that the ships had superior cyber warfare suits as the regular methods weren't getting him access to the ships, so he tried something risky. He temporarily shut down his defenses, and just as he thought the species attempted to hack into the ship, however he immediately isolated their connection and began investigating their firewalls.

* * *

**HSV Black Diamond**

**Dreadnought**

Gef stood in the CIC of his dreadnought looking at the enemy's forces; he had already sent the Quarian ships to land troops on the planet, and the Collector ships fired on the Alliance ships along with the Batarians.

When the battle began the Collector vessels were able to fire at the Alliance super carrier approximately 53,000 km away, though it merely scratched the vessel. The Alliance ships responded by firing their main guns and managed to destroy sixteen frigates and five cruisers. Then six Alliance frigates disappeared using their worm-hole drive, only to appear to his ship's left. With his ship's pointing their main guns at the destroyers and cruisers, the Alliance frigates unleashed hell firing all of their missiles, torpedoes, and main guns. They destroyed ten cruisers and one dreadnought, however numbers where still on his side.

Gef watched as his ships tried to turn around engage the Alliance frigates, only for them to disappear again and reappear right next to their blasted carriers.

_'No doubt they are rearming for another attack.'_ Gef thought as he watched the frigates dock with the carriers and began receiving armaments and repairs.

"I want half of our frigates to start landing troops on the planet. Launch all fighters to target their ships, get our cruisers to overwhelm and collapse the enemy's ships shields." Gef ordered one of his ensigns.

"Yes sir, right away." His men proceeded to carry out his orders like a well train crew. Unlike most Batarian sailors, Batarian soldiers of the 9th tactical brigade were above standards of the average soldier. In fact one general even stated that 'If they were any better, they'd be SIU's.'

* * *

In space the Batarian fleet frigate's attempted to land troops on the planet, however they were harassed and destroyed by Alliance destroyers. The Alliance cruisers engaged the Collector vessels. They fired half of their geothermal missiles and disruptor torpedoes at the Collector battle group, trying to destroy or cripple their ships before getting anywhere close to the Rail gun platforms. The Alliance cruisers were able to destroy fifteen Collector cruisers at the cost of six of their own. A collector cruiser had a large Mass Accelerator able to fire 59 kilotons of firepower at the rate of every 8 seconds, however the Alliance cruisers held strong.

The Alliance spacecraft numbered at 5,625, consisting of bombers, fighters, and drones. The Batarians however had 8,378 interceptors and 1,234 bombers. Even though the Alliance hawks were out-numbered they had an advantage in quality. During the first stage of the dogfight the Batarian pilots realized that the enemy fighters now had kinetic barriers, which cost them about 239 of their own fighters. The Batarians managed to regroup and placed each other into squadrons to target the Alliance hawks, it managed to work and the Alliance lost 78 fighters. It continued to work, until the Alliance unleashed its 450 Eagles to intercept the Batarian bombers and fighters. Risking total annihilation of their bombers, a tenth of the Batarian fighters disengaged to protect their bombers. However, the Alliance then ordered their bombers, escorted by ARC drones to make attack dive runs on weaken enemy ships. A total of six Batarian cruisers and fifteen frigates were destroyed, however 56 bombers were lost. An Alliance frigate was destroyed after concentrated fire from Batarian bombers and cruisers.

The _SSV Germany, _an Alliance destroyer, managed to take out two Collector cruisers. Managing to use its superior speed to close from the rear, the _SSV Germany _engaged the cruisers at a range of just over 300 meters. It fired all of its EMP warheads and missiles on one, which it attempted to evade the barrage, allowing the destroyer to fire its PAC and rail gun cannon on the other, effectively destroying it. The ship then target the other cruiser, slightly weaken from the attack, and fired its main cannons and point defense guns. The cruiser exploded in a large fireball as debris from both ships floated in space. The _SSV Germany_ then pulled back, using the debris as cover, to avoid getting swarmed by the Batarian cruisers.

The enemy had split into two groups. The Batarian ships were coordinating their barrages, ensuring that maximum damage would be done. About thirty of the Collector cruisers made a breakneck run towards the planet, their hasty rush cost them sixteen cruisers and three Quarian frigates.

One might have asked why the Batarians were fighting the enemy instead of retreating. The answer was they wanted to sow fear into the Alliance, showing that their territory no matter how far could and would be attacked by the Hegemony. Already evacuations of civilians were underway in major cities on the planet. One of these cities was New Flora, named for its display of beautiful flowers found in the city's ecosystem nearby. Ironically enough, a large crocodilian like creature also lived in these areas, but were more tranquil and lived from eating plants and fruit rather than meat.

* * *

**SSV Shakespeare **

**Cruiser**

Commander Sanjii Gupta had not been expecting to fight on the frontlines. He was the son of two merchants from the colony world of Central, and had chosen the navy due to his fascination of military science.

This was his first tour of duty as a commander, and the first engagement where he was fighting a national army, not measly pirates. He was as nervous as he had adrenaline rushing through him.

However, now his ship was being boarded by Batarians and he ordered the Alliance troopers to meet them head-on.

From the bridge, he watched as two more frigates made a turn towards his ship and began orienting themselves for an attack run. "Ferguson fire the main cannon at the two frigates at vector J-3." He commanded.

"Aye, sir. Firing…now. HAHA! Now that's a sight!" Ferguson cheered as the two frigates were destroyed.

Gupta was impressed as 85 kilotons of firepower completely annihilated the ships, however he did not get cocky as his ship was still taking fire from the Batarian ship port side that forcibly docked with them At this range he couldn't order the main cannons to fire on the enemy ship or else his own ship would be destroyed in the ensuing explosion. Broadside cannons on both ships exchanged fire as explosions and rounds shook the ships.

The sensor operator called over to him, "Shields are holding at 58%! Rerouting engine power to the shields! Sir, I recommend we ditch the Batarians fast, because we are a sitting duck right now.

Gupta grimaced. He had to destroy the Batarian ship or he, along with his crew, would be destroyed by incoming fire.

"Have the ship launch the disruptor torpedoes." Gupta commanded.

"Aye, sir." Ferguson replied.

An Alliance force were on their way to sever the docking tube via the ships airlock, however they had meet resistance along the way. It was up to these brave and well trained soldiers to free the ship and take out the Batarians.

* * *

**SSV Shakespeare**

**Cruiser**

**Deck 6**

"This is…epic Earth-clan!" Fide shouted as he fired his pistols. He shot one Batarian in the eye and another in the neck. So far he had managed to get the most hits out of all the squad, which was seven in total. The squad comprised of three Alliance troopers, a medical officer named 'Doc', Fide, Laforeck, and Daniel. The Volus took cover, just about a Batarian sniper fired.

"How in the hell is a Volus beating all of you!" Sergeant Spice shouted. He was utterly embarrassed that a Volus was beating him, a trained soldier in the Alliance army, and no matter how much he tried he simply couldn't beat him.

"Guy's got talent." Jenifer said. The other Alliance soldier gave a nod as he agreed with her assessment.

Spice turned his attention to the medical officer, who simply said 'I'm a medical officer, not a soldier! I shouldn't even be fighting!"

Spice grabbed him by the shirt and said "You are in a war zone. If you're not shooting you're fucking dead!"

Doc swallowed and shaking, he agreed to continue to fight, though armed with only a side-arm that wasn't too much plausible.

The team was taking heavy fire as a platoon sized force began suppressing them and started to advance. "Damn someone get a grenade over there!" Spice shouted. To answer his wish, a batarian soldier threw a grenade and it landed four feet from them.

"He didn't just…."

"Shit." Both Spice and Doc cringed at the sight of the grenade and they each hugged their cover. If they were to attempt to get the grenade and throw it back, they would be exposed to incoming fire.

Just as all hope was lost, out of nowhere came the greatest sight they have ever seen. Dashing into the battlefield Lt. Fullerton kicked the grenade towards the batarians and it detonated right above their heads, killing five of them. He then fired his rail carbine in short bursts, killing three Batarians by shooting them in their eyes, neck, and torso. He ducked immediately into cover right next to the misfit team as the position he was held was swarmed by heavy fire.

He began speaking to them. "Alright the hallway is narrow so we can't fight our way through, but I have an O.I.T team going around the Batarians backs and they should be there….now."

In the rear of the Batarian lines, eight O.I.T troopers disintegrated any soldier with four eyes with their Tesla cannons. These guns were made primarily for heavy armor, however the Alliance soon saw that they also made great infantry weapons. They had low recoil and great accuracy, however the cannons drawback was its rate of fire. As one trooper put it 'you only need one shot. Anything more…and its overkill'.

The team breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks we owe you one." Spice said.

"Don't mention it, however there is still more and we could use the help. The captain wants me to disengage the docking sequence, however I'm going to need help as a company sized force is guarding all hangars or hallways leading to it." Fullerton informed them.

Each member of the team stared at the insanity of the Titan. He was actually considering engaging a company sized force.

"How do you…propose to get to…the…" Fide began to say, but was interrupted by Fullerton.

"Well I have two marine and six O.I.T squads ready to jump lift over there through space, however I was thinking you could use super strength cables to fire and latch on the ship. From there all you need to do is rappel towards the ship guns blazing."

"ARE YOU INSANE!? Why not just use the airlock!" Doc yelled.

"The airlock is being guarded on the Batarian side, as we've learned following 6th squad. All nine troopers were killed, however they got us useful information. Now who's with me."

Everyone, but Doc stepped forward and Fullerton motioned them to follow the O. . Fullerton turned his head to Doc, who said "You can count me out." He had his arms crossed and didn't appear to budge.

"Alright. Just be careful with the firefights happening throughout the ship. Also watch out for Batarian stragglers, they'll rape you, then kill you regardless of gender." Fullerton said as he began walking away.

"Hey wait up, I changed my mind." Doc said and immediately began running towards the Titan. Underneath his helmet, Fullerton smiled.

In space, the fleets drew closer to one another as the fighters met head on. Bombers were damaging and crippling ships all over the place. The barrage from the Ion cannons destroyed seven Collector cruisers and eight Batarian frigates.

The broadsword bombers stayed close to their carriers as they tried to pick off damaged frigates and cruisers, while Hawks and Eagle fighter engaged the Batarian interceptors. ARC drones were also wreaking havoc on the enemy fleet providing much needed numbers and distractions. The Batarians lost 60 bombers and interceptors to the ARC drones alone.

The Alliance ships, minus the carriers and their corvette escort, and Batarian ships met face to face and the battle became a free for all. Batarian cruisers fired at the Alliance battle cruisers, but their rounds were harmlessly absorbed by the shields. The Collector cruisers and Batarian dreadnoughts fared better, destroying four frigates and a destroyers. Most of the frigates used their superior speed and maneuverability to avoid most of the fire.

Two Alliance battle cruisers paired up and targeted both the strongest and furthest ships away, using their long range to maximum effect.

The ion cannons were in danger as three were destroyed from combined fire, though the enemy lost seven cruisers and fifty-nine frigates.

* * *

**Alliance Colony Rover **

**Maelemen city **

**Rover Defense HQ**

Major Rosen had been watching the whole battle on the holo-screen, through satellites. It was going reasonably well. The Batarian's vast numbers were the main problem. However, what intrigued her more were the unknown ships fighting alongside the Batarians. Despite this, she believed that the Alliance would win this battle, but only at the cost of many brave men and women.

However, Rosen was currently busy mobilizing planet-wide defenses. The Quarian, Batarian, and a few of the unknown ships had breached the atmosphere and were deploying shuttles. Alliance AA guns were pounding the enemy ships, however there were just too many. After losing fifty trying to land in the city, the shuttles started deploying their troops away from AA fire in the forest surrounding the city, no doubt gathering strength to make a push.

She smiled at the fact that the outskirts of the city contain a beast that even the Alliance feared, the Bokari. The Bokari were quad-ped animals that had black skin with razor sharp claws. They had one tail, but it branched off to three at the end, their faces were covered by natural plating armor and they had four red orbs for eyes that allowed them to see well at night and in the day. They were six feet long, five feet high, and can weigh up to two hundred pounds of muscle. Initial settlers came into hostile contact with these beasts. Entire town occupants were found dead with deep claw marks embedded into their skins. When it was learned that the beasts were not only intelligent, but also posses the ability to understand human language, as the Bokari also communicated orally through sound. It became clear these animals were either protecting their territory or were naturally vicious creatures. As Alliance settlers built away from Bokari territory, attacks became nonexistent. After humans became a part of the planet, contact with Bokari became less and less hostile. In fact Alliance scientists were able to determine that they had a culture similar to wolves on Earth, however these animals were not domesticated as they already possessed higher thought processes. They were the apex predators on this planet and the Batarians were soon going to find out why.

"Are the city's defenses up?"

"Yes, ma'am. They are online. Various sensitive buildings are now on lockdown. Troopers and mechs are patrolling the city streets, along with some militia. Majority of civilians are secured in hospitals, subway systems, and bunkers."

"Good. Fire the kinetic rods." She ordered.

Following the impressive display from the Raloi's kinetic rods on ships. The Alliance decided to place them on their colony worlds as an added layer for protection. However they were few in number and only core worlds received them first.

Across the Northern Cite continent, forty rod silos appeared and began targeting the sky. Each silo contained twenty rods, all launched at Batarians and unknown ships. There trails lit the night sky as they showed a clear message to any Batarian invader, the Alliance will never break.

* * *

**Rover **

**Batarian shuttle**

Sergeant Bajo Ilec sat in his shuttle with three combat teams of Batarian soldiers, flying in the sky of the enemy's world. There were thousands of shuttles landing and deploying troops across the continent, however 45% were committed to the city with the most numerous populace. Following the heavy bombardment from frigates on the city, the majority of Alliance presence was either dead or scattered.

Their mission was to land at the outskirts of the planet's capital city, set up a base of operations, and then press into the city until it was captured. If the opportunity presented itself, then they were ordered to capture slaves for the Hegemony.

Ilec looked out the view screen that showed the view outside the shuttle. They were currently approaching a forest and he could see the highlights of the city beyond it. He estimated that it was 8 kilometers from their location. As he continued to watch, he saw large missiles rising into the sky heading towards the Allied ships. Their launch brighten the dark horizon. Soon dozens of their frigates and a couple of their cruisers were either destroyed or crippled forcing them to land into enemy territory.

He shuddered at the idea of having to face the locals.

"All shuttles this is General Ilinous Cornel. As you may or may not know, there were Alliance missiles launched into the sky that managed to destroy a few of our ships. They are being jammed, however our mission stays the same. The enemy city is just 8 kilometers way and were are to capture it and take slaves and hostages in case the Alliance reinforcements arrive. Good luck."

"We're eight clicks out people get ready," Ileck called out as he saw his squad check and double check their gear.

The shuttle landed and Ilek and the combat team that he was in command of quickly vacated the shuttle. Around them other squads and teams were exiting their shuttles. Hundreds of infantry and tanks were offloaded. Ilec had never seen so many Batarians on an enemy world.

Their comm's sparked to life "Alright men, we'll set up an HQ here and we'll start advancing into the city. First and second battalions, I want you to head into the city and engage any targets. " Cornel ordered.

After five minutes the Battalion of Batarians and Quarians headed out into the forest, unaware that they were being stalked the moment they had landed.

In the forest watching the batarians from afar was Kier, the chieftain of the six-hundred Bokari in the region. They gathered reconnaissance on the Batarians squads and prioritized separated squads. They de-cloaked and headed into the forest ready to hunt and kill their prey. If there was one thing the Bokari loved, it was the hunt. The bigger the hunt, the more Bokari gather from different clans.

As if to signal the hunt. A massive deep howl vibrated throughout the country side. It was heard all the way through the city, and immediately the few Alliance citizens that hadn't evacuated, locked and barricaded their doors.

Sergeant Ilec and his mean had been walking for about thirty minutes. A few of them were a bit paranoid following the series of howls that were heard a bit earlier. Within the safety of their vehicles, the Batarians filed out. The Batarians and Quarians were so focused on reaching the city that they failed to pay attention to the grass, which were being separated by a no visible source.

Suddenly three Quarians on the far left disappeared, screaming as a unknown force snatch them. Trails of blood stained the ground and screams were heard, followed by screeches of growls and the sound of bodies being torn apart. Suddenly the screams and cries for help stopped and bones were launched towards the Batarians.

Ilec saw the bones of the Quarians remains. The body was stripped of all meat, down to the bone. The sight petrified a Batarian who decided to run off, only to be torn to shreds by an animal that couldn't be seen. A few Batarians fired at the poor Batarian, hoping to kill the animal. A deep whine, and drips of green blood leaked on the Batarian, possibly from the animal.

"EVERYONE STICK TOGETHER!" shouted Ilec. His men attempted to follow his orders and stuck close to the vehicles. Growls and howls came from the forests and a few Batarians shot off.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE! Don't waste any ammo." Ordered Ileck.

"HOLD FIRE!? DID YOU NOT SEE THOSE MEN GET TORN APART BY INVISIBLE ANIMALS!" A private shouted.

"I did, but don't you think those beasts are waiting for you to waste your ammo to make you an easier target."

The private swallowed deeply as he let Ilec's information sink in.

"Now calm down and get back in file." Ilec ordered. When Ilec saw that the troops were ready to move again he ordered them to proceed into the city. Those riding in the vehicles were thankful that they weren't exposed to what was out there.

They did not get far, before more Bokari descended upon them and attacked. Batarian and Quarian troops were them torn apart by the creatures. Yellow and red blood mixed together as they were bitten, clawed, and disemboweled. However a Batarain managed to get a luck shot and kill one of the creatures. The body de-cloaked and the troops got a look at what they were facing. The sight of the creature caused some Batarians to clutch their rifles closer. What they saw was a creature honed to kill.

Then Ilec noticed something strange, the attacks stopped. Groans and cries from the injured were ignored as the soldiers attempted find where the creatures had gone.

"Humph, looks like they aren't so tough once their dea…." The soldier in questioned stopped, when all of a sudden around the forest, hundreds of Bokari growled. De-cloaking, the Batarians soon saw the size of each creature, some were even larger than the one the soldier killed.

"I think you killed a youngling." Ilek muttered.

"GET US OUT OF HERE!" A private, riding on top of an APC yelled. The driver, and others, wasted no time flooring the vehicles leaving the infantry to fend for themselves. That was when the Bokari attacked.

Ilec had managed to take cover underneath a rock. When he looked at his men, he saw the creatures were ripping apart as they tried to run for their lives. He saw one of the Quarian females tried to omni-stab one of the creatures in the head, however the natural plating was too thick. The Quarian backed away from it slowly from the creature who began walking forward as if toying with the Quarian. She continued backing until her back hit a tree. Saliva poured down her suit and when she looked up, she screamed as she saw a Bokari jumped down to kill her. The two Bokari attacked and tore her body in half. They were throwing dismembered bodies as if they were rag dolls. He saw as one Batarian tried to run, but one of the creatures jumped on his back and began eating him from his legs. Ileck was extremely horrified now as he watched a good Batarian get eaten alive, the poor solider screamed and cried as immense pain filled his remains as he was devoured. Yellow blood splattered from his body. Another Quarian was grabbed by four Bokari, from the legs and arms and was pulled apart. The poor Quarian yelled as his limbs were severed. The only thing that was left was the upper body, and the poor Quarian was still alive to feel the pain and blood spilled from his remains. Maybe that was the point in the way the creatures were attacking, inspire as much pain and fear as possible.

The Batarain troops tried to fire back with their arms, and some were successful as they managed to kill a few, however they were soon maimed by the creatures who overwhelmed them.

Knowing he would die if he remained there, he made a run for the city. "Advanced into the city!" he called out. He imagine that the creatures would have sealed off all routes leading to the main HQ and he didn't think the creatures were dumb enough to attack 800,000 troops that had access to heavy arms.

He didn't know if any had managed to follow him, but Ilec was only focused on running and didn't look back. He made it all the way out of the forest and saw the city was close.

He heard footsteps behind them and looked back to see a fifteen Quarians and Batarians following. Ileck wondered how the collectors were faring on the isolated human settlements.

Then something made him, along with the other Quarians and Batarians, trip and fall forward on their faces. He turned around and looked down to see his feet were strap together with some sort of strap, then a net above them deployed.

From the edge of the forest, a squad of A.C.S de-cloaked and Ileck counted sixty Alliance soldiers stood up from their hidden cover. They were visibly camouflage, having uniforms matching the terrain, with local fauna and grass strapped on their uniforms in a ghillie suit.

_'This is why we have had such a hard time with the turians lately, the Alliance has been practically training them how to counter us.' _Ilec thought as he remembered reading reports of turian black watch squads firing from out of nowhere.

* * *

**Rover **

**Maelemen city Suburbs.**

Hell. That was the shortest word to describe the situation in the capital city of Rover. After gaining air supremacy over the continent, the Batarians started to destroy any planetary guns and anti-ship turrets around the city. Once that was done, swarms and swarms of bombers and fighters were launched and engaged to planet's air force, however they were pushed back.

The evening sky overhead was streaked with smoke and flame, and lit up by mass accelerator and missile fire. Smoke billowed from the half-dozen ruined buildings. Rivers of ammunition cut through any infrastructure. In the distance the Captain John Bradley could hear the crack, roar, and thunder of artillery fire.

Within the city limits, Alliance troopers were laying mines and Claymores in strategic areas. All routes heading towards the HQ were barricaded with junk, some vehicles, and other things. Captain Bradley was leading a platoon size force of 64 men and women.

"Sir any idea what Major Rosen has in mind. Setting up these barricades seems a lot of work to stop the Batarians." Connor asked.

"Well, Connor the point is to delay them as much as possible, you know wait until reinforcements and ambush as many times as you can." Bradley replied.

"Cap, I see Batarian movement just under 500 meters. Mostly light and heavy armor. No sign of any infantry." Foley informed him. As an elite sniper, Foley peered down the street and the clusters of hundreds of enemy element zero signatures. The size determined that it was mostly vehicles and not infantry, which in urban warfare was good for ambushes.

The perimeter security walls had been breached in the initial assault, when the batarian fleet had bombarded the city's automated defense systems from orbit. Over a hundred shuttles had attempted to land within the city, however for their efforts they'd been wiped out by AA fire.

Bradley peered through the barricade and saw the Batarians coming. "Alright everyone dig in and hide. We are going to give these four eyes some military lessons on why you always have infantry guarding heavy armor." The men and women began hiding in trees, behind tall grass, and behind and inside the houses in the street.

Whatever remained of the 1st and 2nd Hegemony Battalions reached a roadblock. Immediately the highest ranking officer, Warrant officer Gec Heil ordered to advanced with the heavy tanks in the front, which was a big mistake. Underneath the tanks on the road were remote detonation mines made for tanking out heavy armor. Jones pressed the detonator and the lead tank shot up in flames. Connor immediately fired a Guardian missile at the rear, creating a kill box. The blasts impacted the rear squads that had disembarked instantly killing them. Their bodies were charred and smoky, but a few were still alive. This quickly changed when Foley and Sherman put bullets in their torso's and skull's .

The remaining Batarian infantry dismounted and began firing, using their vehicles to good effect, however since they couldn't detect where the Alliance forces were exactly there were not effective. A rocket-grenade exploded on the far side, followed by a couple of glowing pulses of energy. The volume of fire continued to grow, and Bradley figured that the Batarians had an idea of where he was. He ordered the Alliance forces out of the homes. Firing his grenade launcher, Bradley was able to take out a squad of Quarian engineers.

A burst of rounds impacted the ground near Connors, cutting the ground near him. He fired his light machine gun and suppressed the infantry. He knew he couldn't stay put, so he dashed to the nearest safe cover, which was a nearby tree. Then an enemy APC pulled out of the street and into the forest firing randomly, but managing to injure a few soldiers. Connors ducked as one of the rounds hit 22 meters from where he was standing. "Ugh, damn that was a close one." Getting on the radio, he said, "Hey Jones are you going to take out that APC?"

A missile detonated a few meters away as the APC was severely damaged. The crew tried to get off, only to be cut down by Connors machine gun.

"Satisfied Connors?" The sound of Jones voice was heard over the radio.

"Very." Connors replied. Firing his weapon, he could see the enemy drawing closer as the enemy infantry pushed down the street. Soon enough incoming fire picked up, slashing down the street toward the Alliance line.

Foley and Sherman tried to pick them off from a slightly elevated positioned near a boulder overlooking the street. They ducked low as an Ogre tank's round impacted the rock. Foley gritted his teeth as the impact damaged his ears. "I'm going need to see a doctor about that." Foley stated, getting back up and firing at the enemy infantry.

"Don't worry it'll be fine." Sherman stated. Her shields flashed, bullets flattening against the mass effect fields her suit threw up to deflect incoming rounds.

"Shit." she rasped as she ducked back down to recharge her shields.

Foley merely laughed at this.

"Shut the hell up Foley." She demanded. Foley continued to laugh a little bit, however he soon focused on fighting back the enemy.

Bradley and Jones were near the front, delivering and taking heavy fire. A rocket-grenade detonated a few meters away. Mass accelerator rounds smashed into the debris on all sides of their cover, while armor-piercing rounds lanced straight through the concrete and thin metal of destroyed buildings and cars. A squad of Alliance soldiers were killed as the heavy armor started to move out. Bradley looked back and saw a breach in the security wall thirty meters away. A blue light flashed twice indicating the breach had been booby trapped for the Batarian tanks. Bradley could now evac his troops out, however running meant that they would be exposed to the heavy fire that they were facing. "Foley, Sherman, cover the withdrawl. Alright everyone we are falling back. Standard formation."

From Foley's location, he tapped a few commands at the lap top that he had. This activated the surrounding drones to activate, that until now had been hidden. Heavy fire impacted the Batarian line. The Alliance soldiers started to fall back . Half of the platoon retreated as the other half covered their retreat.

Once they had reached Foley's position, they provided covering fire as Bradley and his group fell back. "Fall back everyone!" Bradley ordered them.

Bradley had a laser designator trained on the armed convoy and soon Alliance rapiers descended down upon them like a hawk stalking its prey. Artillery and rapier fire covered their retreat into the city. The Battalions of Batarian and Quarian infantry were reduced to companies of men, as they tried to find cover from the heavy Alliance bombardment . Using superior numbers they managed to inflict causalities to the Alliance as they retreated.

* * *

**Rover**

**Maelemen city**

A company of Batarian SIU soldiers, under the command of Jorth' Abed, were currently traveling as fast as they could under the cover of night. They had so far been able to avoid detection, but the streets were starting to get crowded with Alliance militia and soldiers. They were getting close to their objective. Mobad, the navigator for the company, identified a supply depot that they could regroup in and plan their next move. Motion trackers and thermal vision showed that the depot was currently empty. Mobad activated a hologram showing the layout of the city.

"We're here." he pointed to the depot they were currently in. "Our target is about two blocks away," he pointed to the location of the Alliance tanks they were targeting.

"We won't be able to reach those tanks like this. The streets are crawling with human soldiers and we're pretty close to their front line." said Bore, the company's head sniper.

"Well bring them on. I prefer to fight my way towards the objective, than doing all of this sneaking around." replied Abal, making sure her LMG was loaded.

"We'd get overrun pretty quickly. And we don't have the firepower to blast ourselves out." said Jibab.

"If we can capture this building here," Mobad said pointing to a sky scrapper a block away, "I should be able to use the designator to call in an airstrike on the tanks."

"Well let's get to it." said Abal anxious to get in the fight.

"Everyone has their silencers on?" Jorth asked the company. Everyone gave a nod. "Alright let's go." he said.

Half of the company took off towards the objectve, while the other half stayed in place providing over watch.

As Jorth's team rounded another corner, they ducked into an alley as a squad of local militia passed through. Jorth gave the order and silently the militia riflemen were easily killed. Their bodies were hidden to avoid enemy presence.

Reaching the door to the building , Modad said "Okay lets see what we are up against." Looking through the door using a flexible camera, he saw a squad of Alliance soldiers in the hallway. "Looks like a squad in the hallway, but its likely there are more. Maybe a platoon or a company."

"Us versus a few hundred human soldiers, we've faced worse." Abal spoke up.

"The lack of intel on the number of soldiers in the building is going to be the real problem. Good thing there's only one though. Mobad pick the lock.

Mobad got to work picking the lock on the door, and once the door was open Jorth silently opened the door. The Alliance soldiers had the back turned to him and quietly Jorth approached the first one. Quickly he grabbed the human in a shield and fired his pistol at two of them. Before the last one could raise his gun, he was killed by a headshot from Bore's rifle. Jorth snapped the neck of the human he was holding.

"Let's move Echo, times a wasting." Jorth ordered them.

With a plan formed the team set off to get into position. Bore, Abal, and Jab, the demolitionist, went to the nearest window. Mobad scanned the building and found there were no more remaining hostiles.

The waited until the sound of Alliance tanks could be heard. Jorth gave the order and fire was poured on the Alliance soldiers. "Heads up Echo we have company."

Jorth proved to be right. Not even ten seconds later after they taken out the tanks, they came under heavy fire. Humans came running towards them in droves. All firing their rifles in full blaze in target areas. Jorth's company fired on the humans soldiers with their new particle beam rifles, given to them by the collectors. The humans shields were only able to stop so much bolts from the batarian weapons as they went down with two good shots to the head or multiple to their bodies.

Abal fired her machine gun, cutting entire rows of soldiers at a time. Jab fired his rocket launcher at the infantry killing dozens of soldiers. By know the Alliance deployed their drones, and they targeted the building.

"Everyone move from the windows." Jorth said as he ran back. Almost an instant later the place he once was destroyed as the Alliance drones poured heavy fire into the area. Jorth saw 20 batarians were killed

The humans were still closing in on them and they were pinned down. Jorth analyzed the situation as his shields recharged. Despite his best efforts, the humans were slowly encircling them. Their situation was not good. Right now he needed a miracle.

A miracle was delivered in the form of a missile blowing up a squad of Alliance soldiers, along with a drone. Jorth turned his head to where the shot came from and was overjoyed to see the other half of the batarian SIU company firing down the street. As the humans turned their attention to the other half of the company, Jorth's team once again fired from their position. The enemy soldiers were pumped full of fire as missile and grenades poured down on the Alliance.

The humans, now exposed on two sides, scrambled to find cover, however there wasn't any in the streets below. The Alliance deployed smoke grenades to cover their retreat. "Switch to thermal." Jorth ordered.

The Alliance used their drones to cover their escape, however about a dozen were still wounded in the retreat. BOOM! the sound of a large explosion was heard as Jab fired a missile and destroyed the human drones.

"Command, this is Jorth. Mission is a success."

"We read you over. Jorth take your men and fall back to the shuttles we are pulling out."

"WHAT? Why?" Abal asked dumfounded by the order.

"We accomplished our purpose here. We were never meant to capture the planet, but show we can strike at the humans anywhere. Now fall back, how! The 65th and 34th volunteer brigades will cover your retreat."

"Copy that." Jorth then turned his attention to his men. "Alright, you all heard command we are pulling out." Jorth took his company and retreated back the way they came.

* * *

3-4-2184 0100 hours, (Citadel Standard time)

* * *

**The next day**

The Batarians had hit the city hard. Their frigates bombarded buildings and bridges making heavy armor almost impossible to navigate the ruin streets. Nearly all Alliance forces stationed in the city were gone, so Alliance command made defensive deployments and were planning a counter attack. No one knew when that was going to happen, but every Alliance soldier within 300 miles was praying it would be soon.

Sergeant Jeremy Thompson took cover as fire from Batarian bombers impacted near his position.

Over the speakers, the voice of the Major was heard. "This is command to the 57th tactical battalion, we are currently busy evacuating civilians. Heading your way are over two brigades of enemy soldiers. You are all that we have in area so you will need to hold off as long as you can. I have a company of local militia and the 128th infantry battalion heading you way, however they will take time."

"Roger that ma'am, out." replied Commander Blake Wolf. He turned to his men who were on the frontlines with him. "Alright, all you I'm sure have heard that. Now I do not need to tell you what happens if they get past us, so let's make sure we don't." If the enemy breached this position they would flood through and attack the civilians in the city.

The sound of heavy tracks rolling on gravel was soon heard, followed by the explosion of a Batarian ogre tank's main cannon. As soon as the Batarian advance was within visual range, a series of explosions rocked the enemy armored advanced. After a few of their tanks were destroyed, their set up lines were in disarray. To mount any sort of attack the enemy had to either mad rush the Alliance line or pull their armor back as they were being torn apart, however they still had many tanks, APCs, and troops remaining. Batarian and Quarian troops, using the cover of their armored vehicles fire, rushed forward firing their rifles, taking the Alliance forces by surprise and inflicting casualties. Their armor fired heavy rounds killing or suppressing the Alliance forces.

Commander Wolf's sensors displayed the number of enemy contacts. There were more than a hundred enemy troops incoming, advancing up the street by companies. Far, far too many for him or his men to take alone. Wolf, however did not let this faze him and along with his men stared down the belly of the beast.

As the start of the barrage ended turian snipers, that were on planet in part of the soldier exchange program, shot any lightly armored soldier that they saw with their hawk-like eyes. Guardian troops and O. appeared on the demolished roofs and in the mid level windows of the buildings. They poured down heavy fire into the streets trying to thin out the huge mass of troops. Grenades were dropped in front of the enemy advanced, explosions were destroying the area even further, and Sgt. Thompson was in the middle of it.

"Riley get suppressive fire on the right flank, Davidson fire the guardian and take out that Quarian floating tank!" Behind him, craters were made from the blasts of the heavy tank. He saw a radio operator prone on the ground. Thompson tapped him on the soldier, but he didn't move. Thompson tapped him again and when he didn't get a response he turned the operator over. It was then that he saw that the radio operator was dead and there was a bullet in the radio set. He cursed to himself. They needed help right now. To answer his prayers heavy missile fire wreaked havoc on the enemy lines, and Thompson saw a squad of Elcors firing at the enemy armor.

He was equally stunned as he was grateful. He crawled over to them and asked them, "What group do you guys belong to?" he shouted over the explosions and bullets firing in the air, though the Elcor didn't seem to be bothered.

One of the Elcor answered, "With immense pride we are part of the 22nd Elcor armored division, 'Dukenna's pride.' The name was chosen in temperance of the fallen Elcor hero Dukenna on Elysium.

Looking towards Alexis, he ordered her to take a few men and try to flank the west Quarian line. She took a few dozen men and headed out. The shouts of the wounded was heard as an Alliance solider was hit in the face with shrapnel. "AAHHH! SOMEONE HELP ME! I CAN'T SEE!

"Soldier stay calm." Marcus Felix ordered. He was a turian who immigrated to the Alliance after he married a Caucasian human female. He had served in the Hierarchy for three years and another six in the Alliance. The blinded soldier gave a nod, though one could see he was in immense pain. "Ruiz get this man into the medical tent ASAP!"

The Alliance doctor Joseph Ruiz, ran into the middle of cover and got the man into the tent.

Commander Wolf ordered the assault drones to be activated, assault drones were bi-tread machines with a mini-gun attached to it. They were found to be cheap, reliable, and easy to put together and maintain. They were mean to overwhelm in numbers, however Wolf only had 38 placed on the windows. Their fire tore the frontline troops, however a few were silenced from ogre fire.

He saw as the ogres prepared to fire at the O. and snipers in the buildings. "Alpha company get out of there!" he shouted. He saw a few managed to jump lift or get out of the building in time as the rest were killed as the rounds from the tanks impacted the building. They were close to overrunning them now, so Wolf ordered an immediate withdrawal. "Alright men, fall back there are too many of them."

Then the sound of gunships rotors were heard. Sergeant Thompson looked up to see the sky filled with Batarian gunships. "Shit. They are sending the entire Batarian air force."

The Batarian gunships fired, tearing the Alliance forces apart. They tried to retreat, but any attempted resulted in death.

"SARGE I NEED HELP!" Riley yelled.

Thompson turned to where the voice came from and saw a Quarian was trying to stab Riley. Quickly Thompson unsheathed his own knife and ran towards the Quarian. The marine was unprepared as they were stabbed by an Alliance knife.

"You good?" Thompson asked, extending his hand.

Riley drew his side arm and fired. Thompson turned around to see a Batarian dead on the ground.

That was when it happened. Hundreds of ARC drones appeared over the battle field and fired at the enemy gunships and troops. Riley and Thompson hid underneath a demolished building as explosions, missiles, and bullets impacted anywhere near with a Batarian presence. After the 15 longest minutes of his entire life, the barrage winded down. He heard the moans of the wounded soldiers on both sides, but he also heard footsteps near them, when a he took a look outside using the nearest window he saw an Alliance platoon walking.

"Hey over here." Thompson whispered.

The platoon leader looked up and saw an Alliance squad. He smiled and said "Damn it's good to see a friendly face. The name is Bradley, any of you guys know where the nearest Alliance station is?" He asked them.

Thompson sighed and he got out of the building, "Well just up ahead was an Alliance battalion, but-"

He was interrupted by the voice of Commander Wolf over the radio. "Attention all Alliance forces. Reinforcements have arrived. We are now mounting a counter attack. Let's take back out city."

Above the city the sight of three frigates could be seen. "Mount up men we got work to do." Bradley ordered. Alliance Falcons arrived and began deploying troops, while the Blue jays were evacuating the wounded.

* * *

**QMS Qwib Qwib **

Tali Zorah was busy repairing the ship's engines when she heard the news of the Quarian assisted attack on the Alliance colony she couldn't believe it. _'What is Shepard going to think?' _

"Tali I think you should take a break." Zaal'Koris told her. As an admiral of the civilian fleet he attempted to dissuade the Quarians from allying with the Batarians though few listen to them. The promise that Rael gave them of reclaiming their home world blinded them. Now with the Aleria confiscated by the Batarians and the attacks on the Alliance colony the Quarians were reconsidering the alliance, but some still stubbornly held to the believe that reclaiming their homeworld at all cost was the way to go.

Sighing she turned to face Koris, "I know it's just….."

Koris put a hand on her shoulder and said "Tali, I know. The split of the migrant fleet, the abduction of your father, the war that is going on. I don't know when or how, but I believe everything will turn out for the better.

"I hope you are right." Tali said, not sharing the same enthusiasm.

"I am. Now get some rest." Koris ordered. Tali reluctantly left and when she was out of earshot, Koris stared at the nearest window out into space.

"Keelah. Rael wherever you are, please make it back for your daughter, she needs you." Koris prayed.


	8. Chapter 8 - Information is key

A/N: I do not own the following skit. All rights go to Comedy Central and the Key and Peele show.

* * *

3-4-2184 1234 hours (Citadel standard time)

* * *

**SSV Normandy **

**Corvette**

In the Normandy's recreational room, Ramirez was sitting in a couch with Legion and Donnelly at his sides. They were watching a comedy show called 'Key and Peele', the show was about two comedians that did various comedy skits . Right now they were watching a skit where Key and Peele were dressed up as African soldiers. The title was called 'How to kill an African warlord.'

On screen it showed Key dressed as an African warlord commander by the name Ahbib Bujula in a small room sitting near a desk. He was wearing a stereotypical African khaki military uniform with a red beret and black glasses in his eyes.

Suddenly the door opened to reveal Peele, a soldier by the name Jango, wearing a white t-shirt with a teenage mutant ninja turtle logo on the front. He had a scarf, green pants, and a red beret also. In a fake African accent, he said "Commander Bujula our forces have been devastated," Pointing his finger in the Northern direction he warned, "The enemy is at the edge of the village. There are not many of us left. Should we surrender?" he asked.

Commander Bujula stood and stared at Jango. "You may surrender Jango," Taking off his glasses, he continued "But I'm afraid that is a luxury I cannot afford. You have no idea what they do to warlords. If they capture me, they will torture me for weeks and that is no way to go. I want you, my most trusted soldier over the age of eight, to take my life. That is my final order." He finished, giving Jango one final salute.

Jango returned the salute. Taking out his knife on his back pocket, Jango stabbed the commander four times.

"AAHHH! OW OW OW!" Commander Bujula screamed in agony as he grabbed a hold of Jango's knife. "S-stop stop! What the hell are you doing!? AHHHA!" he demanded as he sat back down in immense agony.

"I was trying to kill you sir." Jango replied.

"Not with this," Bujula said pointing to the knife. "There is a gun in the drawer." he said showing Jango where it was with his finger.

"Oh. So sorry." Jango apologized as he turned around to search for the gun in the drawer behind him.

"You missed. You missed every vital organ Jango."

Finding the gun, Jango turned back around. "I found it."

Commander Bujula held up his right hand. "Alright. Now kill me Jango, hurry please!"

Jango aimed the gun at his commander and fired.

"AAAAHHHHH!" Bujula screamed as the bullet entered his knee. "Not in the knee!"

"I thought you might want an open casket." Jango defended.

"You are an idiot. Ah!"

"Don't say that, I did try my best." Jango murmured gloomily as he was insulted by his commander.  
"Shoot me in the head! You imbecile!" Bujula ordered in anger.

Jagno nodded. Once again aiming the gun at his commander, this time in the head, Jango gave his last words to his commander. "Goodbye commander. You sorry ass piece of shit." Jango said as he pulled the trigger, however he was met with a click.

Both men, opened their eyes as the bullet failed to go off. "Did you just insult me as you were about to fire?" Bujula asked, insulted.

In an awkward moment, Jango tried to defend himself. "Oh. Well, you had insulted me earlier, I th-thought you would be dead."

By the face on the commander face, he was clearly not pleased. "So sorry." Jango once again apologized. He then started to hit Bujula in the face with the pistol.

"AHAHAHA! OW OW OW! S-stop stop it what the hell are you doing!?"

"The gun is empty. Would you like me to stab you again?" Jango asked, unsheathing his knife again.

With his hands raised, Bujula protested the action. "NO NO NO! Please! Jango there are bullets! They are over there." He said indicating to the same drawer as earlier.

"Okay." Jango began looking for more bullets for the gun.

"Jango, please hurry I'm in so much agony!" the commander whined.

Jango raised a large pot and threw it at the commander. "AAHHHA!" The commander screamed, the hit had taken the beret off his head. "What in the blazes man!?"

"I thought I could kill you very quickly by hitting you with that big cooking pot."

"Can you p-please get it over with." Bujula complained as he was still breathing.

"I did not find the bullets."

"WHAT!?" the commander asked in a hoarse and fearful tone.

"But even better, boiling hot water." he said holding up a pitcher of hot water.

"What are you going to do with that?" the commander was frightful at this point.

As if to answer his question, Jango poured he hot water on Commander Bujula's lap right on his pelvis. As sizzling sound filled the air as boiling hot water made contact with skin.

"AHHA! The commander motioned for Jango to get out of the way as he limped out of the room with his hands raised in the air. "I surrender! I am commander Ahbib Bujula!"

Jango still standing in the room, yelled after the commander. "Commander don't go! They'll torture you!" Jango yelled, clearly not knowing the torture he himself gave the commander while he was trying to kill him.

The screen turned to roll the credits as the skit was over. Ramirez and Donnelly sat in their chairs, laughing at the show.

Legion just sat there in silence. "Ramirez-Commander, I do not understand the purpose of this vid." he said in his robotic voice.

"Well, don't you see? It was funny, cause it was a parody."

"Do organics always laugh at tragedies that occur in their history?" Legion asked, trying to understand organic comedy.

Ramirez tried to stop laughing. "Well…uh I guess. When you say it like that it kind of sounds wrong."

"Ah, don't let the walking terminator get you down. That was comedy, pain in simple." Donnelly argued as he changed the channel.

He came upon a news channel. Ramirez caught the reporter saying, "This just in a human colony hi-" before Donnelly changed the channel again.

"Change it back, change it back!" Ramirez urged Donnelly, who did as he was told and pressed the record button.

The screen turned back to Asari Galactic News or AGN for short. "We go to our field reporter, Magemen Geran, for more details. The screen switched to a male, Salarian in the middle of a warzone.

"Thank you Elera. As you can see behind me, the Batarians have hit Rover, an Alliance colony. Possible the first in many assaults to come. We have confirmation now, that the enemy combatants are indeed Hegemony military forces, not pirates or slavers as previously thought." He stumbled as an explosion when off, a dozen meters from his position. In the background the chatter of soldiers and commands were heard as Alliance soldiers fought with Hegemony forces.

The Salarian dusted himself off and continued, "The attack was unanticipated, however both sides have sustain casualties." In the background, Alliance tanks and gunships advanced, alongside infantry. One of the infantry soldiers, a private by the look of his insignia on his right shoulder, waved at the camera before he was dragged off by one of his friends.

"The Alliance has retaliated with a massive counter attack and are in the process of evicting Hegemony forces from the colony. Alliance reinforcements are said to arrive within three hours, however at this moment it has not been confirmed. A short while ago, the Alliance navy was able to achieve orbital supremacy after a mysterious withdrawal from the Hegemony fleet and it seems the remaining Hegemony forces on the ground are now trapped. It is not known what the Alliance plans to do with them if they choose to surrender. This is Magemen Geran signing off." The screen then turned to the Asari anchorwoman as she delivered news and updates.

"Legion try to alert the crew on the Normandy, while I go get Shepard. Things have just gotten interesting." Ramirez said as he walked out of the rec-room.

* * *

**Cerberus Headquarters**

**Undisclosed location **

**25 minutes later**

The monitor flickered, and a dark haired, middle aged man in full Cerberus officer's uniform appeared in front of the Illusive man. "This is Lieutenant Colonel Adrie Anton, awaiting your orders, sir." The man said, giving a salute.

"Have you assaulted the moon yet?" He asked.

"Yes, we have sir. Our distraction should allow the Spec-ops team to arrive undetected. There have been reports that an high ranking Hegemony general is on site and is coordinating the defense." The officer replied.

"Is that so?" The Illusive man was interested by the turn of events. He now had an opportunity to possible interrogate a Hegemony military officer.

_'The secrets he can have on their defenses.' _The Illusive man imaged in his head the possibilities this could mean.

He turned his attention to the Lt. Colonel and said "Continue as instructed."

"Yes, sir." Anton said as he gave a salute. An instant later his image disappeared from the holo-projector and instead switched to a different link, this one to the Normandy.

Shepard's image appeared on screen. "Shepard, I'm sure you've seen the news lately?" The Illusive man rhetorically asked.

"Yeah, the Batarians have hit an Alliance colony. Does this change our original mission?" Shepard asked.

"No, of course not. However, the objective of said mission has. A Cerberus fleet has hit the moon and are causing a distraction to allow you to remain undetected and capture a Batarian general on site. Try assist them any way you can, and take over the factory if possible, however the Batarian general is high priority. I want to make sure I'm clear on this, Shepard."

"You're crystal, just give me the coordinates on the general's location and consider it done."

"I'll consider it done after you've captured the general, not before." The Illusive man, shot back.

Shepard kept his emotions under control and gave a nod. Once he got the coordinates, he disconnected.

The Illusive man again switched the channel, this time to the Council chambers. Unbeknownst to the Council, he managed to bug each councilor's office and this allowed him to learn a great many things about each one.

Udina was doing back-room deals to gain support for the Alliance. Secretly, or so Udina thought, he leveraged some of his rivals for the position of the human councilor and black-mailed them to support his candidacy or risk exposure of fraud, corruption, and affairs. He was also selling private contracts to the Blue suns, possibly to switch their loyalties.

Valern was secretly, with the Salarian Union and STG, trying to create their own AIs. Preliminary tests were a success and their new line of 'advanced emotion responsive VIs' were scheduled to be installed on their dreadnoughts. Speaking of which, they've managed to acquire the specs on the Normandy stealth systems and were able reverse engineer a better stealth system They were able to mask the heat emissions from an actual dreadnought and were in the process of attempting to render it invisible. Of course these stealth dreadnoughts would cost almost twice as much as a regular dreadnought. The property theft, didn't bother the Illusive man much as his organization was in the process of 'downloading' the blue-prints on these stealth ships. An eye for an eye, it seemed.

Tevos, ironically, was having an affair with the pirate queen, Aria T'loak. This information was invaluable as it gained the Illusive man leverage on the Asari councilor if he was to ever need it. Tevos also managed to secretly transfer some credits towards Omega, in exchange for assurances that no Asari planet would be targeted by the Hegemony.

Din Korlack was financing a new defense system created by the turians and were in the process of constructing three dreadnoughts. The first was to be named Kwunu. There were reports of Volus companies trying to sneak their way into the biotic implant sector, but were being blocked by Tevos, unknown to the other councilors. However, Din Korlack was financing projects where they would buy Asari made biotic implants, send them to a Salarian company named Serush Industries to study and would then sell it to the Raloi military.

Sparatus didn't have too much dirt on him. Other than his government had secretly sold the prototype Thanix cannon, while they kept the fully developed or Thanix Mk. II cannon to themselves. Unlike the prototype, the was able to fire three slugs during every shot, not just one. He was also planning to assault the Terminus Systems, and claim to support the Alliance as they removed pirate bases that have been a thorn on their side for a long time and take over nearby dextro-amino worlds. The Hierarchy actually had five more dreadnoughts then they let claimed, they were secretly built on Menae. Unlike the other councilors, Sparatus can claim that his government had just constructed all of these assets. Unfortunately for the Illusive man, Sparatus never gave a date on when each asset was constructed nor how long each had been in service.

The Illusive man stumbled in the middle of a meeting, which isn't hard since the bugs are self-recording.

Udina: "We need to attack the Hegemony now! We cannot afford any more council worlds be attacked!" he demanded.

Valern: "You mean human worlds, councilor. No other race's colonies have been attacked, making this an Alliance manner." Valern retorted.

Udina: "You'll watch as my race strugg-"

Valern: "I will, councilor. The truth is, the Salarian Union hasn't replaced all of its vessels it lost during the counterattack on Eden Prime. If you cannot even defend your own colonies, frankly I wonder why your even on the council-"

Tevos: "Valern that is enough! Despite the situation we find ourselves in, Valern is right. Since the Hegemony has only attacked the Alliance, we can only offer minimal support. I will discuss with the Matriarchs on Thessia, but chances are good that we can offer the sixth fleet as support. We will also send deploy Spectres to disrupt their manufacturing capabilities."

Udina: "Thank you, councilor. I personally will not forget this."

Sparatus: "I'll be blunt councilors, the Hierarchy is very keen on attacking the Hegemony and the various private groups that they've funded. Now we officially cannot lend you any of our fleets as our people come first, however we can take pressure off of you by attacking their funded pirate bases."

Udina: "I will humbly accept what I can take."

Korlack: "The Volus protectorate…is willing to loan…the Alliance credits for the…war effort in exchange…for the colony of Patavig."

Udina: "Consider it done. Now onto more pressing concerns. The Alliance has obtain evidence that the Collectors assisted the Batarians on the attack on Rover."

Sparatus:"What!? Why would the Collectors aid the Batarians of all people."

Udina: I thought the same, and so I brought this to the attention of the Prothean liaison to the council, Sulun Ader."

Ader: "This may not give you comfort, but that is not my job. These collectors that you mention, are Protheans that have been corrupted by the Reapers."

Tevos: "By the goddess!"

Valern: "Excuse me, but I must bring this up to the STG. If worst comes to pass I won't have my people suffer."

Tevos: "For now this meeting is adjourned. I must consult with the Matriarchs on Thessia. No doubt this will cause some concern on our colonies near the Terminus systems."

Sparatus: "As I with the Primarchs on Palaven."

The Illusive man disconnected from the bug, satisfied with the assistance that the Alliance was receiving, even if it was only token forces. He then received a call. He pressed commands on his chair and the image of Marva Kolen, the female ambassador of the Raloin government.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Marva said, bluntly.

"It's best of my identity remains a secret. And what I want is fairly simple, Raloin military support." The Illusive man said.

Marva narrowed her eyes and asked, "If you are requesting military support for the Alliance in the war, I have to ask what's in it for my race?"

"Prestige. A tale of legends. A newly discovered race defeats a galactic superpower in what can be called a miracle." He said.

"If you think that will get my government to lend you our ships and weapons, then you are delusional." She said with her arms crossed.

"Well then, what is it that your government require?" he asked.

"Ships, weapons, colonies, and economic deals." She stated her demands with an air of authority and the Illusive man was somewhat impressed by her display.

"You have my word that you gain those assets." The Illusive man with a slight smile.

"Haha," She chuckled, causing the Illusive man to raise his eyebrows in surprise.

"I don't see what can cause any sense of humor."

"If you think I will ever take the word of a shady human over the QEC, then you are delusional. When my demands are met and officially granted to my race by your government, not your councilor, then the Raloi will provide the support you require. Have a good day." Marva then cut the connection.

The Illusive man sat there smiling, instead of being angry or offended, he was rather pleased with the performance the Raloin ambassador. Only a few ever talked back to the Illusive man, usually because they were always negotiating from a weaken position or at the end of a gun.

* * *

**High Borsan**

**Batarian outpost **

**Sector E - Security wing**

Hegemony troops were currently patrolling the compound. A few of the Hegemony's data analysts were also trying to upgrade the outpost's cyber security. These 'analysts' were simply Eclipse mercenaries hired for their expertise in electronics.

"Will you hurry up." A batarian said to a male salarian merc, who was trying to install updates.

"This computer system is very different than the ones almost everyone else uses. This software is extremely old, I didn't think that it existed anymore. Trying to find a compatible security system without doing a major overhaul or replacement was rather difficult and trying to install it, even more so." he replied. He stands as he types in the commands for the software. The console shot of sparks, much to the dismay and annoyance to the mercenaries.

"This is a pointless," An asari said. "Let's try-"

She wasn't able to finish as a Japanese Katana blade lung through her neck. This shocked the group as the asari fell to the ground. They were unable to react fast enough as another mercenary finds himself flying to a wall with a deep stab on his torso.

The others opened fire at the general direction where their squad member flew from and it hit Kai Leng's shields, however his cloaked armor prevented him from being seen.

Kai Leng quickly engaged the mercenaries in CQC with astonishing speed that could only be matched by a drell. Kai Leng started slashing the mercenaries and batarian soldiers to bits

He slashed one of the batarian solider diagonally across the torso, while kicking a gun off the hands of another batarian. He delivered a strong strike to the batarian's neck instantly breaking it. He then used the batarian's body as a human shield as rounds were pounded onto the corpse. He quickly finishes off two more mercenaries and sprints towards one of the last two remaining enemies in the area.

He goes for a downward strike with his sword, however instinctively the merc raises his assautl rife in an attempt to block the sword. To his shock, the sword merely slices through his rifle before impacting the top of his head, killing him instantly.

He then jumps towards the salarian engineer who attempts to flee, only to have his back exposed. Kai Leng runs after him, easily closing the distance between them. The salarian turns around and tries to raise his pistol, but Kai Leng chops off the salarian's hand

"AHHH!" he screams, holding his severed hand. He looks up only to be meet with a steel sword and then….darkness.

As the lifeless body fell to the ground, Kai Leng headed towards another section of the outpost.

* * *

**Sector B - Barracks**

An Eclipse group was engaging a group of Cerberus Knights, elite soldiers used for high risk operations. The group consisted of three men and one women, and was lead by Tex. Flint was the team's marksmen and scout, Emile was the big hitter of the squad, and Kollier was the infiltrator and hacker. Essentially they were Cerberus's special forces. The knights were taking cover behind combat barriers and walls.

The two groups are exchanging shots with each other as the mass effect projectiles, rail gun rounds impacted the opposite group. Emile quickly took cover after he threw a sticky grenade at the mercenaries, which happened to stick onto the face of a human.

"Get it off, Get if off!" the Eclipse merc screams as he tries to separate the grenade from his face. The grenade was a regular fragmentation grenade coated with extremely tar that can only be stored or used with specialized gauntlets and equipment.

The explosion tears the human's body apart as well as killing the nearby mercs. Flint then fires a few rail gun rounds towards a batarian soldier and kills her with incredible skill.

Kollier, using a high-tech bow, aims an explosive arrow at a pair of salarian Eclipse members. The slow kinetic energy of the arrow allows it to bypass kinetic barriers and stick right onto the armor. One of the salarians is able to dive out of the explosion radius, before the arrow kills the other merc.

Emile and Tex were firing their weapons at the asari vanguards. Two of them were hit in the torso and the third was hit in the forearms. With numbers on their side, Tex orders them to suppress them. Firing their weapons, the group of knights were steadily advancing, however an asari vanguard threw a warp attack at Emile and hit him in the torso. The armor took most of hit, but at the same time a human eclipse sniper took the opportunity and shot Emile in the chest.

An arrow from Kollier soon made its way to the sniper's eye, killing him.

"Emile is down! Emile is down! Covering fire!" Tex ordered, firing at the enemy group.

The remaining Eclipse members were quickly dispatched as Kollier attempted to apply medi-gel to Emile's wound, but he had already lost too much blood. "Hey, Tex come h-here." Emile said, blood dripping from his mouth.

Tex kneeled near his friend. "Yeah?"

Pointing to his bag of explosive and charges, he said "I have about seven minutes. I-I c-can cove y-your escape."

Tex understood that he couldn't change his friend's mind and the whole base was probably alert by now and a large numbers of enemies were probable on their way. Tex nodded and gave an order to fall back to their ship.

Emile started to input the codes for the explosives; he was able to hear the faint noise of boots hitting the floor and knew the batarian SIUs were on their way. Just about as he was ready to press it, a large number of batarians entered the room and aimed their rifles at him.

Emile smiling said "Hey four eyes," holding up the detonator, he continued "I'll see you in hell." He pressed the detonator and the room was consumed by the blast.

* * *

**Section D - Sever Room **

Kai Leng was engaging a group of batarian SIUs. After he got the information that he needed, six angry SIU armed soldiers arrived and were blocking the door. Kai Leng was able kill two with his hand blaster, but was forced to take cover when the rest fired upon him, draining his shields. They were about to gain the advantage, however an unknown explosion allowed Kai Leng to maneuver and recharge his shields.

Using his augmented agility, Kai swung his blade and decapitated a batarian. He then surged forward and stabbed another in the torso. He notices an batarian glowing with biotic energy who then quickly sends a warp towards him. Kai quickly jumps away, the attack missing his head by mere centimeters. He closes in on the batarian and quickly slices him across the abdomen. Using his hand blaster, he killed another batarian that was ready to fire on him. The last one tried to flee, but Kai Leng is able to slice him across both legs severing them.

"AHHH!" The Batarian tried to crawl away, but his suffering was ended when Kai Leng stabbed him in the neck. A pool of yellow blood stained the area

With the his mission completed, Kai Leng starts sprinting back towards his ship. While running he receives a call. He looks to see that it is the Illusive man. He brings up the comm and presses it. "Kai Leng, I trust your mission has been successful." said the Illusive man

"Of course." He replied.

"Good. Head back to the station."

Kai Leng said nothing, but he didn't have to tell the Illusive man that he understood his orders. He disconnected the comm.

Reaching his ship, he notices only three Cerberus knights are on the ship. Looking around he asks "Where is Emile?"

"Emile….Emile didn't make it. He covered our escape." Tex informed.

Kai Leng was not pleased. "Unfortunate, however we have new orders."

"What kind?" Tex asks.

"We are going back to the station." Kai Leng replied.

The Cerberus knights eyed each other as Kai Leng made his way to the cockpit. "Any reason why?" Tex asked.

"No. For what it's worth I'm sure Emile is satisfied that he killed so many Batarians."

"That he is." Tex said staring out of one of the windows. The ship made its way towards a Cerberus task force of eight corvettes and docked with one of them. Together they went to FTL and headed back to the Cerberus station.

* * *

A/N: And that is folks. Please leave a review stating if you are pleased with the pace of the story or if you wish to have me slow down a bit


	9. Chapter 9 - The General pt 1

A/N: Inspired by **joestej. **Also for all those Tali fans out there, do not worry she'll be recruited into the team by around chapter 11 or 12.

* * *

3-7-2184 2595 hours (Citadel standard time)

* * *

**SSV Normandy **

**Corvette**

**Command deck**

"Captain we are 120 kilometers from the Batarian…hey captain you have to see this!" exclaimed Joker.

Shepard walked over to the cockpit from his nav-map and took a look at what Joker had found so interesting. "What is it Joker?" he asked him.

"The moon…its…I think it's a garden world. Look at all that green, brown, and blue."

"How is that even possible? Wouldn't it make more sense to call it a planet?" Shepard asked, stunned seeing a moon covered in oceans and land.

EDI's avatar appeared next to Joker's leather seat. "The moon, called Har, orbits a gas giant that radiates heat, giving the oxygen and nitrogen rich atmosphere colony life. Like most moons, Fra orbits the gas giant and its only by chance that such a phenomenon occurred."

"And that's the only flaw in the Normandy 2.0." Joker whined. Turning his head towards Shepard, he asked "Do we really need this electrical cancer onboard, in the cockpit? I mean we already have the geth it named." Joker complained, not wanting an AI criticizing his flying skills.

"Mr. Moreau, I assure you I will not interfere with your flight performance. I am only responsible for the Normandy's cyber warfare suites." EDI calmly informed him.

"Joker get us planet side as quickly as you can. EDI set up a connection line to the Cerberus operative responsible for the operation. I'm going to get the team ready." Shepard ordered, leaving the cockpit and heading to the armory.

"Roger captain." Joker said, and EDI's avatar simply disappeared.

* * *

**Armory **

**6 minutes later**

Seeing the ground team all gathered, Shepard began discussing his plan. "We are going to split into three teams. Grunt, Jacob, and I will be team A. We'll handle the frontlines and be sure that the Cerberus line holds. Ramirez, Kasumi, and Legion will be team B. They're our infiltration team and will capture our objective, a high ranking Batarian military officer believed to be in one of three buildings in the city. Garrus, Jack, and Samara will be team C, and they'll provide covering fire and support. Any questions"

Looking around Shepard saw no one objected to his plan and believed that they were ready. "This is our first official battle in this war, so let's make it count." he said to them.

The assigned teams loaded up on a blue jay carrier and once the Normandy reached the atmosphere it took off, while the Normandy retreated to a safe distance from all the AA cannons hidden in the jungle. In total ten members of Shepard's team were in the shuttle and were flying towards their assigned coordinates.

'_Just another mission. Don't screw it up.'_

Garrus Vakarian, accomplished soldier and veteran C-Sec officer, ignored the nervous lump in his throat and repeated the mantra over and over again in his head. He knew he had an amazing team, but was nervous about endangering the lives of his teammates. He has never personally lead a fire team before and he wasn't so sure he'd be able to properly lead them, but Shepard was confident that he was able and Garrus was determined not to let his friend down.

"Dammit, look at those trees," Jack mumbled gazing at the ground below.

"Good thing we are landing in the city. That jungle is the perfect location for ambushes, traps, and kill zones." James said.

The ground was entirely green with the occasional blue rivers or ponds; dense forest blanketed the area like a massive blanket. Up ahead Shepard could see the start of the city of _Superiority_. He saw an orange glow coming from some of the outer edges, topped with a haze of black smoke. There were other fires inside the city, as if the Batarians were sending out a signal to all humans: _This is our city. Get out while you can or suffer our wrath._

"Approaching the landing zone." The pilot informed the group. He glanced at the dashboard. "That's not good. You guys may want to put your seatbelts on." He warned them.

"What?" Shepard asked.

"Incoming missile. Damn four eyes, I guess they want us dead. Hold on." The pilot yanked the controls; the Blue jay twisted sharply to the side, and Grunt was knocked over from his seat from what seemed to be a massive explosion.

"Are we hit?!" Shepard yelled over the noise, hands clenched to his armrests. His stomach swooped as the shuttle transport fell sharply. There was a heavy thud behind him and what sounded like a grunt from James.

"No, don't worry Captain. I wasn't assigned to be your transport pilot for nothing. I managed to shoot the rocket down before it could hit us."

Pushing James off of him, Garrus mumbled "Well its nice for the Batarians to send us a welcoming gift."

"Let's just hope it's their last one."Ramirez muttered.

"James, I don't think the Batarians are that greedy. I expect more, especially when the heavy fighting starts." Garrus responded.

"If it hasn't already." He said looking at the burning city.

* * *

**Har**

**Cerberus Headquarters**

**Superiority Suburbs **

The Blue jay troop carrier landed on the Cerberus controlled building that was serving as the head quarters. The thud of the shuttle rattled Jacob's brain, it reminded him of his time as an Alliance paratrooper. Shepard's group, which consisted of Jacob and Grunt, were met by the Cerberus officers on the rooftop. One of them, a seasoned soldier male in his late fifties, stepped forward. "Which one of you is charge?" he asked loudly over the shuttle's engine. He was in full-uniform and looked exhausted; there were bags under his eyes, his dark hair was peppered with dirt, and his uniform was stained with ash and debris as if it hadn't been cleaned in several days.

Shepard stepped forward. took his helmet off and stuck out her hand. "I am. Captain Shepard and these is my team. Jacob, Grunt, Legion, Ramirez, Garrus, Kasumi, Jack and Samara."

_'Stay calm. Take no bullshit from them.'_

The Cerberus officer scanned over them all. Shepard couldn't help, but note his reluctance in meeting them, most noticeable Grunt and Legion. "Very well. Follow me." He led them inside the Cerberus headquarters, where they were met with chaos. There were people running around everywhere, talking into headsets and radios, or looking at maps of the city, or barking orders at other people. Shepard couldn't help but think that is was sharply different from the Alliance military, and felt a small bit of pride. "I apologize for the disorganization. Given the current circumstances, we are somewhat stressed." He stopped outside a room. "This is an officers meeting. We would prefer to have only one of one you in our discussion, rather than a whole group of mercenaries."

Garrus cleared his throat. "More like deniable forces. Totally different." Shepard turned around and gave him look that said _Not right now. _He averted his eyes to the floor.

"Understood,-" Shepard started, awaiting the Cerberus officer to give him a rank, the officer seemed to notice this.

"Sir, will do just fine." he said with a even voice.

"Understood, sir." Shepard repeated. "My team will wait outside," he agreed, turning to address his fellow teammates. "Try not to break anything," He said staring at Grunt.

"Heh Heh Heh." Grunt laughed while smiling. It made the Cerberus guards a bit uneasy. "No promises, Shepard." he said.

Inside the conference room, was a circular room with an equally round table. Shepard couldn't help, but notice the officer had seated him isolated from the rest of the group.

A scared woman with a hooked nose glared at him. "Who is this?"

The Cerberus officer nodded to Shepard, giving him permission to speak. He took a small breath and began in a clear, even voice. " I am Captain Shepard of the Alliance. I am requesting on behalf of our team and for the good of the city that the Cerberus forces seize all offensive operations in the area and fall back to a solid defensive line 2 kilometers from here."

He bit his tongue as the officers around tittered at his suggestion. _'Calm. In charge. Take no bullshit. Just another mission.'_

"What makes you think that you can do a better job than Cerberus?" The woman with a the hooked nose asked.

Before Shepard could give an explanation, the officer beat him to it. "The Illusive man believes that he can do a better job and is here on his personal order."

The woman with the scared face folded her hands together. "Prove it."

The officer tapped commands on his omni-tool that linked directly to the Illusive man's personal line. His voice filled the room. "Yes?"

The officer said "General Abita Kila wants me to confirm Shepard's authority over the operation."

"Shepard has full access to all and any Cerberus resources that he needs to complete his mission." The Illusive man responded.

"What what exactly is his mission?" The scarred woman asked.

"I believe I have just explained that this was _his_ mission." The Illusive man said, stressing the fact that he did not have to answer to any of his subordinates. The table fell silent. "Anton, insure I do not receive any more interruptions before the mission is complete." The Illusive man ordered.

"Of course sir." He cut the connection and turned his attention to the Generals in the room with raised eyebrows. "Any more questions?" he asked them with a smile.

General Kila was not too pleased by the look on her face. "Why wasn't I informed of this Lt. Colonel?" she demanded.

'_So Anton is his last name and his rank is Lt. Colonel.' _Shepard thought.

With a mischievous grin, he replied "It must've slipped my mine, when you ordered my men to charge into the city with a lack of proper logistical center or rear guard. Now that that's settled," Anton said, shuffling through papers on the table, "does anyone wish to give him the current status of the city?"

"The entire population, military included, is using whatever means necessary to fight us. This has caused severe amounts of casualties in the last 24 hrs. There are also scattered reports that some biped insectoid like creatures fighting alongside the Batarians, however this have not been confirmed." Explained a younger officer, with a round face. "Our troops are spread thin and are mostly being pushed back into the centre of the city, with the exception of two districts, the banking square and the slave pens. Orbital strikes have been proposed to turn the tide, however we have not reached a decision yet."

Shepard thought this information over, along with the design of the city and its suburbs. The banking square was near the border of the Batarian held territory and the slave pens were located further back. "Have your forces in the banking square give up that territory, and have them join the soldiers near the salve pens. Any able bodied slave that is willing to fight the batarians, give them arms."

General Kila narrowed her eyes. "And risk having the Batarians setting forward artillery positions?"

"Yes. We are almost being driven back and as we fight in the frontlines, the Batarians will be fortifying their rear guard in case they lose any territory onward. They'll definitely set up artillery positions to hit this building, but they will do it with haste and won't have time to set up air defenses. Hit them with air strikes, and have a light armor column drive through the middle of the Batarian line straight to their headquarters. They'll be busy with the rest of the Cerberus forces, but they will not have time to reorganize. But we can only do this after the Batarians wear themselves out, not before."

"Still it would give them a massive victory and embolden them further." The woman spat. "I will not give any ground to those four eyes."

"False hope will make them aggressive, more reckless and cocky." Anton defended, seeing the strategic benefits of Shepard's plan.

"I st-" before the General could argue any further, Anton cut her off.

"General Kila, unless you have any other strategies that you will like to share with us, we follow the Illusive man's orders and do as Shepard says. So far we have taken small amounts of ground have almost exhausted our troops, while the Batarians have unknown numbers, possibly the whole city is against us."

He let his words sink into the Generals heads. Seeing no objections, Anton asked Shepard, "So what is next."

Shepard smiled, actually Miranda Lawson can explain. As if on cue, Miranda Lawson strode into the room and everyone's eyes fell one her. It was known that she was Cerberus's greatest asset and part of the Illusive man's inner circle.

Miranda explained the details of the plan further. "We will need extra force on the sides, and build barricades. Anything and everything will be useful from concrete slabs to rocks and sandbags. If possible, we should attempt to get any civilian help to boost our numbers. The barricades will slow the Batarian infantry and prevent any armor they may have form crossing, causing them to drive straight into the middle. Shepard will lead the men defending the middle line. Any mines, explosives, and drones you have assigned them towards Shepard's group. This is where they will send their biggest portion of tanks and soldiers, so make sure artillery batteries and aircraft are ready to bombard this area. When the Batarians are surprised and weaken, I want all available tanks to drive straight through the middle line and head towards the city. The disorganization of the batarian ranks will allow Shepard's light column to head towards the headquarters nearly undetected." She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in.

The rest of the entourage were a bit taken aback by Miranda's details on Shepard's plan. Anton coughed to bring back the generals to reality. "I will personally assist Shepard, along with my men if that is all right with you generals." he said, scanning each an everyone of them for any sign of protest.

Colonel Montie said "Of course. Alright people you heard the lady, let's move!" he ordered the other generals. They immediately mobilized to ready their troops and began issuing demands on their omni-tools as they walked out of the room.

"Miranda, stay here and make the generals play nice." Shepard ordered.

"Oh, don't worry Captain they will if they know what's good for them." She said to him with a smile.

Gathering his team, Shepard filled them in and assigned them to locations along the middle line, with the exception of Ramirez's team of course.

"Brave strategy, Shepard. Are you sure it will work?" Anton asked him.

"Yes." Shepard responded.

Anton did not know, what is was about this young man before him, but somehow he managed to inspire confidence in his team and in others.

"Well then, I guess I'll owe you a beer after this." Anton said.

"We get through this I'll buy everyone beers." Shepard replied.

* * *

**Har**

**Defensive line Bravo - 2 hours later **

**Team B **

"Shepard !" Garrus screamed into the radio, but he received only static as a response.

Garrus could barely see anyone in the amidst the crowd of Cerberus soldiers that they were currently working with. Gunfire and explosions ran clear in his ears, and he was pretty sure he couldn't hear himself, never mind hoping that Shepard would somehow hear him.

He along with Samara and Jack were providing were providing support and were keeping enemy soldiers at bay at the flanks. Unfortunately for Garrus, he was unable to find a suitable range to use his sniper rifle and instead had to use his assault rifle. Samara was providing biotic fields for Cerberus soldiers to advance while Jack threw wrap and shockwave attacks at the Batarian soldiers.

Despite looking everywhere in the mass of grey, yellow, and black, there was no sign of the familiar solid white armor of titan armor. Most likely he was sent to reinforce 67th Gil street, where the Batarians were throwing heavy amounts of soldiers. This helped team B to do their job much easier of guarding the rear without too much interference, or so it was in theory.

Garrus was caught off guard by a pair of armored Batarians that had flanked the defence and tried to attack from the side. A fist met the side of his head and he stumbled, but was able to recover and saw one soldier was holding two sub machine guns, while the other had a shotgun, things weren't looking good.

That was until the soldier on the left was levitated and was then slammed down hard on the concrete, the other, startled by the death of his companion, made an attempt to retreat only to be met by the barrel of Jack's shotgun, a loud **BOOM **silenced any plea that the soldier may have made. Garrus breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Are you alright?" Samara questioned him like a clam mother.

"Yeah. That was close." Garrus replied in his usual flanging voice.

"Good thing you're in the rear guard." Jack told him.

"Unfortunately not far enough to use my sniper, but I'll make do. Any of you have heard news on Shepard?"

"I am afraid not. But I believe we will soon be asked to assist." Samara informed them while they moved with the Cerberus 1st rifle company to three blocks to the left.

Garrus passed a line of black body bags and was reinforced in making sure he could this fight quickly. Seeing a brief flicker of white armor 490 meters ahead, and pulled out a sniper rifle and saw it was Shepard wrestling with two batarian soldiers on the ground and trying to pin each other.

Without hesitation he fired two shots at the Batarian soldiers and they went down with a stream of yellow blood spilling from their wounds.

Shepard quickly got back up and was able to fire at a squad of soldiers that was approaching his position.

Garrus, now in range of Shepard's radio, said "You are welcomed for that save**.**"

"I could've taken them if I wanted to." Shepard replied.

"Sure you could." Garrus taunted.

"Don't let it go you're head." Shepard's plan was now coming into place. Right now Team C, would no doubt be near the General's headquarters with the light armor column that left half an hour ago.

"Garrus, once Ramirez gives off a flare, I need you two take my place while I go pick him up. Miranda will assist you in any way she can."

"You got it Shepard." Garrus was busy sniping long range targets and enemy snipers. He quickly dropped down as a bullet ricochet of the floor and it nearly hit him. Suddenly a barrier field enveloped Garrus and he looked up to see Samara generating it.

"Now would be a good time to eliminate the enemy marksmen."

"Ahem. Right." Garrus got up and aimed his sniper. The enemy sniper was naïve enough to believe his sniper rifle could penetrate an Asari's biotic field as claimed by the Batarian military. An instant later his shot bounced off the field and the last thing he saw was a flare from Garrus's sniper rifle.

* * *

**Har**

**50 meters from Batarian headquarters**

**Team C **

"Target location within sight, Ramirez- Commander." Legion reported looking through his sniper rifle. Ramirez walked up to the edge of a rooftop in which they stood and looked down over the city of _Superiority _. Pillars of smoke were rising into a black sky dotted with exploding ships and glimmering shields. The building they stood upon was one of the tallest in the city, and was now filled with wounded and tied or dead Batarian soldiers. The majority of the wounded were unconscious, allowing the team not worry about any alarms. The building was right on the edge of the city and exactly where intel suggested General Baron Ulig was located.

Ramirez put his hands on the edge and peered downwards, seeing a flat plaza in front of the building. In the centre was a mobile defense structure. Which is basically a bunker made of reinforced steel that would require heavy explosions to make a dent.

"I count roughly thirty Batarian soldiers surrounding the bunker," Kasumi chimed in as she viewed the situation through a pair of binoculars. "I would bet that our guy is in there, somewhere."

"If Cerberus's intel is correct, he will be," Ramirez stated, looking down at a pair of Batarians soldiers below.

"I assure you Commander, Cerberus's intel is correct," Miranda snapped through the radio. Probably offended at anyone questioning Cerberus's operational capabilities.

"We'll find out soon enough," Looking at Legion, Ramirez ordered "Legion you're going to stay up here and cover us while we take out the guards below us. Once they're neutralized, we'll take their armor and helmets and sneak right in."

"Understood Ramirez-Commander," Legion replied.

"So you made us fight our way to the top of the building, just to go back down?" Kasumi asked.

"Well we needed an observation point. And this is the only building with a perfect vantage point of the bunker." Ramirez replied.

"I doubt we'll be using the stairs." Kasumi said rather than asked.

If Ramirez wasn't wearing a helmet, she would see a smirk on his face. Ramirez stepped up onto the ledge and looked down at the plaza below. He pulled out a cable and tied one end to his waistline and the other end to the building. He could hear Kasumi gulped behind him as he turned around. "Hope you're not afraid of heights."

Kasumi shook her head and secured another set of cables in similar fashion as Ramirez had done. She stepped up onto the ledge next to him. Ramirez knew she was never going let him outshine her.

"Ramirez-Commander, once you are inside would you like us to neutralized the guards outside the building?" Legion asked.

"Yeah, it'll make it easier to depart." Turning back to Kasumi he said "Let's go!" In unison they both dropped, unfortunately for them a Batarian mantis gunship coming back from patrol spotted them and began shooting them.

"MOVE!" Ramirez yelled as he grabbed Kasumi from the waist and they began moving in perpendicular to the Mantis' fire. A lucky shot from the gunship managed to tear Kasumi'sand Ramirez's cables. They tumbled off the side and began tearing through the air towards the ground while the Mantis dived after them as the gunner began firing wildly. Ramirez and Kasumi were showered in shards of glass that glittered in the air as they fell.

Ramirez pulled out his assault rifle and aimed it towards the mantis, trying to line up a shot, but a stray bullet from the gunner slammed into his rifle, tearing the gun from his hands and it tumbled down to the gun.

"WHAT'S THE PLAN NOW!?" Kasumi screamed through the radio as they both fell.

"Legion can you get a shot on the gunship? WE ARE GETTING SHOT AT!"

"Ramirez-Commander cross your arms in front of your chest." Legion said calmly.

"Why?" Ramirez asked.

Ramirez looked at the gunship's guns and saw it started to turn red from heat. The ground was getting closer, and the bullets were doing the same.

"JUST DO IT!" Kasumi yelled at him.

Ramirez crossed his arms in front of his chest and suddenly heard a massive crack. A round from Legion's sniper rifle slammed into the reinforced armor on Ramirez's gauntlets. He saw as it ricochet perfectly to the side and tore straight through the glass of the cockpit, followed quickly by the pilot's head. The inside of the cockpit was suddenly covered in yellow stains as the pilot's head slammed down onto the controls in front him. The gunship stopped descending and began to spin. It slammed into the building causing it to erupt into a massive fireball, dotted with shards of glass and burned steel.

Ramirez looked towards Kasumi and saw that he was falling faster, most probably due to Legion's sniper rifle that seemed to be firing at a rapid pace. He looked down and saw a cable running from their building to one on the left as part of a communication line in the city. He reached and grabbed it . One end was snapped clean, but the other held firm and Ramirez was flung into the building they had just jumped from and smashed through a window rolling across the floor.

The room he was in was filled with machinery, used to make weapons and other raw materials. He took some deep breaths, before his mind shot back to Kasumi who was falling right behind him.

He immediately jumped back to his feet and charged back towards the broken window. He dropped to the ground and skidded towards the window, grabbing a lever from a piece of machinery that was rooted to the ground as he passed. He stretched his other hand out the window reaching it as far as he could. Time slowed down as Kasumi started to reached his window. He watched as he dropped towards his hands. Even behind their visors, their eyes met, and there was a silent…but definite communication. He didn't even have to say anything, but he knew on the inside that he was screaming "GRAB MY HAND!"

Kasumi reached out her hand and her wrist fell perfectly into Ramirez's grip. He held on as tightly as he could to the machinery as he possibly could as Kasumi's full, terminal velocity weight tried to rip his body in half.

"AHH!" He screamed out in pain as his torso stretched from the catch. His armored chest plate snapped in the center with an explosion of tiny fragments that once made up his armor.

He pulled his arm upwards and pulled Kasumi into the room. Ramirez rolled over on his back and breathed heavily for a moment, just taking a second to rest. He looked to the side and saw his face was inches away from Kasumi's.

They just stared at each other until Legion's voice filled the radio, "Ramirez-Commander this platform requires assistance. The bunker is on full alert."

"You got it Legion. Just hold off for a while, until we get on the ground." Ramirez replied.

"Affirmative."

Kasumi was already pushing herself to her feet and Ramirez naturally did the same. "I think we should take the stairs." He said.

"That would be better." Kasumi responded. Still breathing heavily she said "So much for stealth."

"I guess we are going in loud. C'mon." Ramirez sprinted down the stairs, Kasumi not far behind. On the radio, he said "Legion how many can you take out before we reach ground level."

"Unknown." The sound of Legion's voice was ended by the rapid sounds of his sniper rifle firing.

As Ramirez and Kasumi walked out of the building they saw a round tear through a first soldier's chest, then ricochet countless times off the soldiers and even the bunker before it came to a stop. No one moved as they contemplated what had just happened. Suddenly half of the batarian guards grew blood stains on their chests and slowly fell to the ground.

"MOVE!" Ramirez yelled. He and Kasumi took cover and began firing their weapons. Kasumi fired her locust at a Batarian, the round crushing his ribs on the entry and slicing his spinal cord on its exit. Ramirez threw a grenade and its detonation sent a blast of glass shards, blood, and dislodged limbs everywhere.

Kasumi ran towards a the side of a building and slid across the floor. The rounds of the Batarians missing her by mere centimeters as she fired her own. She fired eight shots and all of them made contact with their targets. Only three were lethal, but Ramirez fired a burst from his assault rifle killing a pair and immediately went back into cover as shots were fired on him. Legion took the last three with his impressive aiming.

The air was filled with silence as Kasumi and Ramirez stood in a sea of bodies.

Suddenly the gates to the bunker were blasted open. Ramirez and Kasumi took cover as the gates were sent flying. Standing in front of the bunker was a large eight foot tall insect-like biped. It had two eyes and two smaller ones to the side similar to that of a prothean. The insect glowed a strange blue through what looked like cracks in the body or armor.

Suddenly it spoke in a deep malevolent voice, "**I am Mortem and you will be added to my collection.**" he said as he threw a devastating incinerate attack.

Kasumi managed to make it into cover, but Ramirez was not. He crossed is arms in front of him and took the brunt of the incinerate attack. It peeled off any armor, Ramirez had on his arms and screamed as his skin was burned. Kasumi ran up behind Ramirez, planting one foot onto his shoulder and spring-boarding off his back. She fired her submachine gun and pistol at the strange creature named Mortem, which wouldn't do too much damage by the looks of his strange armor.

Suddenly sniper rounds impacted the creatures armor as well and Ramirez remembered about Legion. Kasumi managed to make it on her feet and all three continued firing at Mortem.

Unfortunately Mortem was able to trace the sniper round back to Legion's location and fired a strange looking weapon he had gotten from his back. The weapon let loose a high velocity blue orb at Legion's location, who saw it coming and jumped off the building. The orb crashed into the building and completely destroyed it. Legion impacted the ground hard, but sustained very little damage to his platform.

Mortem was preparing to throw a wrap attack at Legion, but Ramirez charged the beast, firing his weapon as he ran. Mortem's attention was then changed to Ramirez, who was only a few feet away from him. Ramirez leaped into the air, however with one arm Mortem batted him out of the air. Ramirez slammed into the concrete hard, splitting it and sending bits of rock in all directions. Mortem charged his weapon and aimed it at Ramirez, who was still on the ground.

Legion fired his sniper rifle at the same time Kasumi threw a flash-bang grenade. They continued firing their weapons until Mortem unleashed a massive shockwave at the group. Kasumi and Legion were leaped out of the way and barely missed the attack.

Mortem suddenly stopped attacking. Across the galaxy the Collector General sent a telepathic command. "**Leave. This battle is lost. We have other plans in motion.**"

"**What of the general?**" Mortem asked, regarding the Batarian general inside the bunker.

"**He is of no use to use.**"

Using his wings, Mortem flew into the air and stared at Ramirez, who had just gotten up, "**Today is not your last human.**" Mortem then flew away, leaving the remaining Batarians to fend for themselves. Through a telepathic command, Mortem ordered all Collectors to delay any pursuers until he reaches his ship.

"Who and what was that?" Kasumi asked.

"I have the same question. C'mon we still have a mission to complete. We'll review the tapes from our helmets later." Ramirez replied.

The area around the team was once again silent with only the hum of the wind providing any noise. Legion was beginning his call for evac. Kasumi and Ramirez walked towards the bunker's entrance and inside found another set of doors. Ramirez raised his foot and forced his boot through the door. A lone Batarian was standing in the room with a raised pistol aimed towards Ramirez. He wore a black and red military uniform and seemed to stare right into Ramirez's eyes.

"General Baron Ulig, I presume." Ramirez asked quietly

"Who are you? Are you with Cerberus?" he asked jumpy. "You come to our space, to our world, to our city and spill our own blood on our soil! We were a peaceful people before your kind arrive and completely destroyed our way of life!"

"We are working with Cerberus, but that is all that you need to know. Now you can come with us the easy way or the hard way, which do you prefer?" Ramirez asked him.

"I may not be able to save my people life, but I'll be able to take yours." The general made a motion to fire his weapon, but Kasumi quickly fired on him with a sedative round. The general immediately began feeling the effects as everything in his vision became blurry. Within seconds he lost conscious.

Scooping the body of the general on his shoulder, Ramirez walked out of the bunker alongside Kasumi.

They were met by a pair white and yellow colored Blue jay shuttles landing a few meters from their position. Ramirez smiled at the person who stepped out of the shuttle.

"You guys alright?" Shepard asked them.

"Yeah. We had a bit of trouble, but we got our man."

Shepard gave a nod and pointing to the second shuttle said "Alright package him in and we'll head out."

"You got it Shepard." Ramirez complied with his orders and strapped the Batarian general into the shuttle after cuffing his hands and legs to prevent any attempt of escape.

* * *

**Har**

**9 meters from Batarian headquarters**

**Team A**

With the prisoner secured both teams stepped inside their own transport shuttles and calmly waited until the shuttle's thrusters were able to gain enough power to lift the shuttles.

Once they were in the air, Shepard once again had a bird's eye view of the city. The southeast corner of the city, the suburbs was even in worse shape than the frontlines of Superiority. It had taken the brunt of the fighting. Dozens of fires burned in the surrounding home's, and the sounds of explosions and gunfire were even more prominent.

"So Shepard are we going to get a feast after this mission?" Ramirez asked through the radio of the other Blue jay that he was flying in.

"You just might Commander." Shepard replied.

Suddenly alarms began ringing inside the shuttles.

"Everyone buckle in!" Senior airmen Kil yelled.

"What's going on?" Jacob asked the nervous pilot.

"We have multiple missiles inbound!" Without warning both shuttles banked hard one towards the left, the other to the right. Both teams inside the shuttles buckled themselves in securely.

Shepard made sure his seat buckles were secured and reloaded all of his weapons. "What the situation?"

The shuttle went hard to the right this time. "Looks like the Batarians have been preparing their anti-air capabilities," Kil said through clenched teeth. "They seem to be shooting everything they've got at us. I guess they don't enjoy you taking their general."

"Will we be alright?" Shepard asked.

"We should. I've deployed flares and shou-," The sound of pilot's voice suddenly became deathly quiet. "Shit…that's a lot of missiles."

There was a bone-splitting crash as one of the missiles must've hit the shuttle. "Shepard are you alright?" Ramirez asked through the radio.

"Pilot turn this shuttle around!" Ramirez screamed at the pilot on the other shuttle, no doubt wanting to rescue Shepard.

"No! Ramirez head back to HQ NOW! You have a HVP and it is vital any information he has to be taken to Cerberus or the Alliance."

"Bu-" Before Ramirez could protest, Shepard cut him off.

"That's an order and I expect you to follow it!"

"Yes sir." Ramirez muttered through clenched teeth.

"Captain I'll be making a landing in an open area in the jungle." The pilot informed them.

"Won't the AA sites there finish us off?" Jacob asked.

"No. They won't waste their time trying to finish off a wounded shuttle they know is going to land for repairs. They'll probably sent a search team to try to salvage any tech or take prisoners."

"Great." Jacob muttered under his breath.

"Ha! This is a perfect chance to put more of them down." Grunt said cheerfully.

Another crash was felt and this time the pilot's voice became urgent. "Right wing hit! I repeat right wing hit!" yelled from the pilot's seat. "This is CS-45 going down! Everyone buckle in and start praying!"

"We're going to make a crash landing aren't we?" Shepard asked, trying to keep his voice and demeanor calm.

Kil took a shuddering breath. "It's either that or be blown to smithereens in the air. People survive plane crashes all the time."

"But this isn't a plane. It's a shuttle." Jacob protested.

"Doesn't matter now. Brace yourselves!" the pilot ordered.

The shuttle crashed cockpit first into the dirt. It's rotors and armor peeling off as it rolled on its sides sending debris, dirt, and tree branches flying everywhere. Shepard thought he saw a blue insect-like being fly by just before he lost conscious and faded into complete blackness.

* * *

A/N: And there you have it. Also there will be tension within the team in the next chapter.


	10. Chapter 10 - The General pt 2

A/N: This chapter will introduce antagonists and the main purpose for this story. Also review!

Sorry for the delay, however I hope the length of the chapter makes up for it

* * *

3-8-2184 0154 hours (Citadel standard time)

**Har**

**Forward Operating Base **

**Team B**

As the blue jay shuttle landed on the landing pad, Ramirez and his team stepped out along with their prisoner, the view from the landing pad allowed them to take in the sight of the city before them. Even at night, Ramirez could still see the waste of the city with little trouble, the blazing fires and numerous street lights providing enough light to witness the destruction. All around them Cerberus soldiers were running in all directions, the sounds of gunfire and the occasional explosion could be heard in the distance. The horizon was blotted out by the huge skyscrapers that the city consisted of, but the evident beauty of the structures had been somewhat marred by the days of nonstop warfare. Buildings all around bore their own individual mark of destruction and chaos. Some had been opened up by missiles, the explosions having left gaping holes in their sides. Others had been scorched from fire, or had partially collapsed; others had every window shattered into tiny fragments of glass. Sirens could be heard all around them, and the constant shouting from the Cerberus soldiers made it difficult for Ramirez to think.

"So this is what Hell looks like," he muttered numbly, taking in his surroundings with a heavy heart. As a titan, he had seen his share of carnage, so much so that at times it had little effect on him. However, the difference this time was that Shepard was longer with him.

_'Shepard is somewhere in that god forsaken battleground and I am here escorting a prisoner safe and sound.' _The thought made Ramirez sick, but he understood the reasoning behind Shepard's motivations, the lives of the many always outweigh the lives of the few.

Kasumi could sense his guilt and placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and gave her a small smile and placed one of his hands on top her own. She blushed at the gesture and was happy her hood hid her facial expression.

The moment was interrupted by a cough. Ramirez turned around to see Anton standing in his usual white and yellow Cerberus assault armor. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?" He asked coyly. His smirk vanished when he only saw Ramirez's team on the helipad. "James where is Shepard?"

Ramirez slowly shook his head. "He wanted me to make sure the General got here safely. As far as I know he could be anywhere."

Anton just stood there not knowing what to say. As a soldier he knew following orders meant the difference between life and death, even if he was one to always question them, but did he have the heart to follow an order that would let his friends die so that numerous strangers could live? "Miranda would want… to interrogate the prisoner. I'd suggest you talk to her. The interrogation room is down the hall and towards the right when you step inside." He told them.

Ramirez nodded his head and turned to face his "Kasumi, get some rest and Legion try to intercept any radio chatter from Cerberus and the Batarians. Maybe their transmissions can give us an idea on Shepard's location."

Kasumi could feel that he wanted to be left alone and decided to get some sleep. Legion merely gave an affirmative and just stood there while the geth programs within the platform started to hack their way into the communications.

He then walked toward his assigned directions, hoping to quickly peel every single drop of information the general had tucked in his head. He led the cuffed general through the door. The hallway inside lacked any color and gave the impression of a demolished building. Ramirez took the prisoner down the hall and stepped inside first door on his right. In there was a rectangular table with two chairs on opposite sides. Once inside the room, he chained the general's legs to a chair and chained his already cuffed hands to the table in front of him.

"Alright here's how this goes. I ask you questions, you answer them. I neither have the time nor patience to deal with any crap that you'll have. So just make this easier on everyone and answer my questions. If you lie to me, then you'll suffer twice as much understand?" He asked with commanding tone.

"HA! If you think-" Before the general could finish his sentence, Ramirez punched him square in the rib cage, the sound of bones cracking could be heard. The general nearly collapsed from the punch, his raspy coughing and wheezing was proof of that.

"Now I want names, locations, communication codes, star maps, anything and everything inside that bald head of yours." he said.

"Soon your race will be exterminated through a righteous fire. You will beg for forgiveness when we unleash our fury!" The general practically yelled.

In response Ramirez got out his taser and tazed the general. He placed his hands on the general's mouth to prevent his screams from being heard. The general experienced immense pain as all the muscles in his body contracted giving him the worst cramp he had ever felt.

Satisfied that his message was clear, Ramirez placed his taser back in his armor's belt. "How about we start somewhere simple? That blue creature that fought us outside your bunker, what was it?" he asked in a frustrated tone. He was losing patience with the man and wasn't going to put up with more of his bullshit. When it came to protecting his friends, Ramirez was willing to do anything he could to keep them safe even beat the hell out of a chained prisoner.

"It does not matter what pain you inflict on me…the Hegemony wil-"

Before he could get a respond, the door opened and standing in the doorway was Miranda with her arms crossed in front of her chest. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

"Interrogating this bastard." He replied.

"In the hall now!" Knowing best not to argue with her, Ramirez obliged her request.

Once they were both in the hall, Miranda gave him an ice cold stare that slightly made him uneasy. "You think physically abusing him will gain us anything useful?"

"The sooner I can get information out of the gut, the sooner I'll be able to launch search and rescue to find Shepard." He defended.

"Clearly you need a lesson in proper information gathering skills. Watch and learn." she told him as she stepped inside the room, followed closely by Ramirez.

Calmly, Miranda took a seat in front of the general ignoring the lustful smiles he gave her. "Hello. My name is Miranda and I'll be interrogating you today. Let's start off with something simple shall we? What is your name and rank?"

The general practically spat in her face. "Fuck you, Cerberus whore. I hope my men find you and chain you to the wall and fuck the living breath out of you!"

Miranda only smiled in response. She knew better than to give him an emotional response. She was in control now, not him and she would remind him of that fact. "You know it's a real shame, those men of yours fighting and dying out there. They counted on you, and you're failing them. You can cease their deaths and suffering, all you have to do is give us the information we're seeking."

The general glared at her. "Ha! You think we are weak? We are all willing to die for our noble cause! We will ensure your race's stain on this galaxy is wiped out!" he yelled.

Miranda sighed. "Very well. Commander release the restraints on our colleague, he is free to go."

"What!?" Ramirez and the general asked in unison, believing they misheard her.

"He won't talk, therefore he is allowed to leave if he so wishes to."

"What? You can't be serious!" Ramirez exclaimed. He clearly furious at idea of releasing the prisoner. Nonetheless he obeyed his orders and walked over to the general to undo the restraints. He hoped Miranda had a plan to extract information from the general.

Just before Ramirez was able to undo the restraints, Miranda opened a file in her hands and looked at it with a concentrated stare. "It's a real shame, though that your family won't have the same luxury as you have."

Baron Ulig stared at her, confused at what she was referring to. As if to answer his question, Miranda handed him the file. It was a picture of a young female batarian and a small boy. They were both smiling deeply, with no care in the world. Next to the photo were financial records, addresses, and other contacts that Baron had over the years.

"Is this your family? Your wife, she is very lovely. And your son, with so much innocence. It would be a shame if anything were ever to happen them."

Ulig leaned over the table. "If you think of hurting them….." he warned through clenched teeth.

Miranda looked up. "Me? Of course not. Neither I nor my organization would ever think of hurting them, so long as you provide us with the information we seek. Otherwise a Cerberus team could just simply visit your home on the corner of South Shanton. Such a lovely place you have there. The team can then break into your home using the security code, 2-32-12, correct me if I'm wrong. They can then simply walk in, up the stairs of your double story home, take a right at the top to the room at the end of the hall. Your room, I'm sure. The team will walk in on your sleeping wife, put a pistol to her head and pull the trigger, spraying blood all over the new silk sheets she had just bought, which would be a total waste. Next they can walk over to the other end of the hall to your son's room and just like his mom, have whatever fire his life contains be extinguished."

Miranda looked at the general who was giving her a death glare. "The choice is yours, general."

Weighing his thoughts the general proceeded to divulge any information he had. Satisfied with the information she had gained, Ulig was released as an informant, not that he had much of a choice in the matter.

Ramirez exited the room with the intent on finding Shepard. "Ramirez where are you going?" Miranda asked.

"To find Shepard." he replied.

"No you're not."

"And why not?" he demanded, wanting a good reason why he shouldn't go rescue his long time friend.

"You're emotionally compromised and reckless right now. Besides Garrus's team is closer to Shepard's last known location, so we'll send him in. In the mean time you can get some rest. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go deliver my report to the Illusive man."

Ramirez decided to cool off, fully confident in Garrus's skills to locate and rescue Shepard. He decided to locate Legion and see if he had any update on Shepard's location.

* * *

**Har**

**Location Unknown**

**Team A**

Shepard opened his eyes slowly and groggy, somewhat awake he noticed everything was upside down and barely visible. His head felt swollen, and his seat belt, which kept him in his seat, felt as if it was digging into his body.

Slowly the events that had previously occurred came back to him. '_We crashed. Great we crashed in the jungle and now I'm hanging upside down. How long have I been unconscious?'_ He thought, wondering how long he had been in this predicament.

He started fumbling with the seat buckles trying to find the bottom buckle. After a moment of searching he found it and popped it open. Suddenly his lower body leaned forward, just before falling out of the seat and smashing through a part of an intact part of the windshield and hitting the ground hard.

The impact set electric shocks of pain through his body and radiated around his left arm. He tasted blood and realized that he'd bitten his tongue when he had hit the ground causing blood to leak through his mouth. With enormous effort, he pushed himself to his knees using his right arm as support. The slightest movement caused immense pain to be sent all throughout his left arm. He forced himself to look at it and immediately felt a wave of nausea; a bone was sticking out from his wrist and from the elbow up, his arm was completely bent the wrong way.

He used his good arm to push himself up to his feet and assessed his surroundings. Immediately he was able to make out the black and white uniform of Jacob, who was still dangling from his seat.

"Jacob! Jacob wake up!" Shepard called out his name, but his only response was silence. Jacob's body simply hung there limply.

"Jacob." He called out softly. Jacob groaned, but didn't move. Using his right arm, Shepard reached into his belt and pulled out a knife. Instead of wasting time undoing the seat buckles, Shepard simply cut them. Jacob unconsciously fell out of his seat, so Shepard used his right shoulder to catch him. However, the weight of the Cerberus operative caused both men to tumble towards the floor, or rather ceiling, of the wrecked shuttle.

Shepard groaned and pushed Jacob off of him. Getting back onto his feet, he looped one of Jacob's arms around his shoulder and dragged him out and away from the wreckage. He walked over to a tree and leaned the unconscious operative against it. Shepard looked at the wrecked Blue Jay and was shocked to realize that it was only half a shuttle. It ended just before the cockpit, with tangled teeth of charred metal and was on fire. The scent was almost enough to cause him to vomit.

Suddenly there was movement from the bushes behind them and instinctively Shepard reached from his pistol on his holster, only to realize that it was empty. A large figure emerged from the bushes and Shepard was relieved. Standing in front of him was Grunt, the krogan super soldier.

"Shepard! I knew a simple crash wouldn't keep you down." Grunt said with enthusiasm.

"Grunt, am I glad to see you. I thought it might've been an enemy patrol." It was only then that Shepard noticed that Grunt had sustained a few injuries himself. He had a few bullet wounds with cuts and bruises around his body, but nothing too major. Shepard also noticed that unlike him, Grunt was actually equipped with weapons. A total of a machine gun, assault rifle, shotgun, sniper rifle, two pistols, and large weapon with a rather long blade underneath it.

There was a cough behind Shepard. "Owwww," Jacob moaned, lifting his head. "That really sucked. Next time you think on making a crash landing Shepard, warn me so I can parachute out. I'm sure I'll be much safer." His eyes wandered over to the trashed shuttle and whistled. "Yeah, next time definitely parachuting out." He noticed Shepard's arm and cringed. "Uh, I think you might want to get that checked out."

"It looks worse than it is. Right now we have to find a way to get a transmission out to the team and..." Looking around he noticed there was only three of them. "Does anyone know where the pilot is?"

"Dead, even by krogan standards." Grunt replied, bluntly with a lack of emotion.

Neither Shepard nor Jacob pressed on the matter. "Anyway," Shepard spoke up. "We need to find a nearby camp or a communication tower or even a simple radio will do."

"Why not use our own radios?" Jacob asked.

"The helmet radios are only have a short range and the one on the shuttle is destroyed…so now we have to find one from the batarians."

"There was a Batarian camp near here." Grunt stated, pointing with his finger south. "They had a radio tower. Maybe we can use that." He suggested.

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Shepard asked annoyed.

"You didn't ask." The krogan replied, calmly.

"Is that where you got all the weapons?" Jacob questioned.

"Heh heh heh." Grunt's, somewhat maniacal, laugh filled the team with unease.

"Well then," Jacob said as he pushed himself up against the tree into a standing position. "Lead the way Grunt."

Once the team was fully equipped with weapons, they set off deeper into the jungle. As they made their way towards the enemy camp, they found other parts of the shuttle all torn up. The large mass of twisted metal radiated heat as it burned.

It was long before they reached the enemy camp, only to see that it was buzzing with activity. It appeared as if an entire company of men where tasked with locating Shepard. He quietly led his team over to a log on top of small cliff, overlooking the camp. From here they had the perfect vantage point, and the darkness allowed them additional cover.

They heard a Batarian, probably the leader by the look of his uniform and figure. "These corpses are still fresh, which means that they have to be near." He said with an authoritative tone.

"Commander Iselk! The armory has been emptied." A batarian soldier shouted towards the commander.

The commander appeared to be in deep thought. "Well then this certainly changes things." Turning over to one of his subordinates, he said "Radio command and inform them of this new development.

Shepard was too concentrated to listen in on the conversation that he failed to realize that a Batarian soldier was patrolling the area and noticed Shepard's team hiding behind the log. "Hey guys they're over here!" he shouted as he attempted to aim his rifle at the group.

With impressive reflexes, Jacob rolled over onto his back and with quick speed, fired his shotgun. The round impacted the batarian, dead center in the chest killing him.

Almost immediately the log they were hiding behind was peppered with mass effect rounds, as the entire camp became aware of their location.

"Kill them. Do not let them escape!" Shepard heard Commander Iselk yell.

"Light them up!" Shepard yelled, firing his own weapon at the group. He felt the heavy vibrating ripple course through his arm as he fired his assault rifle with only one arm. The sound of the battle was almost deafening as hundreds of rounds were being fired in a matter of minutes. Shepard gritted his teeth as he fought to control his aim of the weapon. He sighted multiple infantry units that were attempting to flank them and watched as they were torn apart from the force of Grunt's machine gun, who appeared to be the only one actually excited about the firefight.

Jacob, who was sniping targets to keep them from rushing them, saw as a few soldiers were aiming missile launchers on their position. "Get down!" he ordered. BOOM! The impact caused a part of the cliff to collapsed, sending the log rolling down with it.

The sound of rustling leaves and clanking armor was growing louder in Shepard's ears. He knew they were getting closer and it wouldn't be too long before they managed to surround them.

"There's too many of them! We need to retreat!" Shepard yelled.

Grunt then equipped the strange weapon and fired, sending fireballs flying towards the batarians. No one could have predicted the damage it was capable of causing. As soon as the rounds impacted solid ground, it unleashed a massive blast vaporizing anyone near and leaving only a large crater in its wake. The blast was so strong that it caused the ground to shake and as a result the radio tower came crashing down on top of the batarian line, sending clouds of dust everywhere. Shepard took a small satisfaction that it landed directly on top of Commander Iselk.

"Heh heh heh. I like." Grunt said, eyeing the weapon and holding it as if it was the sole meaning of living. Shepard and Jacob exchanged nervous glances, not too sure that letting a reckless krogan super soldier handle a weapon capable of unleashing massive amounts of damage was a good idea, but in the meantime they had more pressing matters to deal with.

"Alright we'll use the dust as cover. C'mon this way." Shepard ordered running through the jungle, before setting behind cover where there were excess amounts of trees and not a moment too soon as grenades detonated near their positions. His shields faltered slightly before recharging.

"So anyone have a plan?' Jacob asked as he lifted three batarians, allowing Shepard to fire at them.

"Yeah one." Grunt said, holding his strange weapon up.

"No. Save it for later in case we need it." Shepard ordered. Just then a series of explosions drowned out all sound as missile launchers impacted the ground. "Grunt, Jacob cover me." Shepard ordered as he went prone on his stomach.

"You better have a plan Shepard!" Jacob shouted as he and Grunt attempted to suppress the enemy advance. Shepard however was placing any remote explosives he had, Jacob saw this and handed over his explosives as well.

Suddenly the unmistakable sound of a tank track's rolling through the jungle and tumbling over trees. "GET DOWN!" Jacob yelled. An instant later the main cannon of the batarian Ogre tank fired sending an 85mm round towards Shepard position. Jacob raised a barrier shield over the team, but the rounds kinetic energy was too much sending Jacob flying back a few meters.

"Grunt fire that damn weapon!" Shepard ordered as he threw two smoke grenades and a frag grenade at the approaching infantry.

Grunt brought up his weapon and fired at the tank. It exploded in a massive fireball, incinerating anyone who was near. "Ha! I love this gun!" he shouted into the air. Grunt at his point had gone berserk, one arm containing a machine gun the other holding the bladed weapon, utterly annihilating the enemy forces.

The distraction Grunt caused, allowed Shepard to run over to Jacob. "Jacob, are you all right?"

"Ugh, damn that's going to leave a mark." Jacob replied.

Shepard allowed himself a light chuckle. "That was damn near impressive. Now c'mon we have to move." He said giving Jacob a hand.

Turning his attention over to Grunt, he saw that the smoke screen was now large enough for them to make their escape. "Grunt, c'mon!" Shepard ordered.

Grunt sent one more round from his weapon before turning tail and retreating, though he would have much preferred to stay and fight.

He managed to quickly catch up to Shepard and Jacob as the trio ran from the enemy, who were not far behind. Just then the sound of a massive explosion went off, followed by the cries of various injured batarians.

Jacob laughed. "Hey Shepard I think that plan worked." Before Shepard could respond, the sound of a sniper going off was heard followed by Jacob collapsing towards the ground. "AHHH!" he yelled as he fell faced first into the ground.

"JACOB!" Shepard screamed. He quickly turned around to fire his assault rifle at the approaching enemies killing a whole squad, even with his injuries. It was then that he saw the glimmer on the scope of the sniper who had shot Jacob. Time seemed to slow down as Shepard's mind took in all the information. The sniper was approximately 200 meters away covered by two trees. At this range, coupled with his injuries, Shepard knew he couldn't hit the sniper, but the sniper had the perfect shot and Shepard knew it.

Before the sniper could pull the trigger fast enough, a bullet hit his left eye cracking open his skull as he collapsed to the ground.

Shepard looked behind him to see Jacob sitting and holding a smoking sniper rifle. Time seemed to revert itself back to normal as Jacob fired a few more shots in rapid succession. Shepard immediately ran over to him and gave him a hand up.

"Can you walk?" he asked him.

"I don't think so. The sniper shot my knee." Shepard looked down and saw blood was pouring from a gaping hole in Jacob's knee.

"Grunt…" Shepard began, but was quickly cut off by Grunt.

"I know." Grunt attempted to stall the enemy as Shepard dragged Jacob through the jungle. He saw a ditch only a dozen meters in front. Both men tried to quickly get to it as possible as the excess number of trees seemed to thin out and that was the only remaining cover in the area. Explosions started to detonate across the exposed field as enemy mortars zeroed in on their location. Shepard was only a few meters from the ditch when he suddenly felt a massive force hit him from behind that sent him flying face first into the ditch.

When he sat up he saw that the massive force that had shoved him was none other than Grunt, who had sustain dents to his armor and few wounds on his forearms. His face was blackened from the smoke of dozens of missiles that were used on him.

Three earthshaking blasts vibrated through the ground and Shepard heard the clanking of armored boots followed by the tracks of Ogre tanks.

"Shepard we have contacts! A shit load of infantry!" Jacob shouted, his sniper rifle firing at the closing infantry. "Confirming at least five tanks….Jesus, how many are there?" Jacob breathed. He ducked back into cover as a shell from the tanks impacted the ground in front of them, reducing the grassy plain into a dirt crater.

Shepard looked up and scanned the area to see the batarians were setting up gun emplacements and their infantry were advancing alongside tanks. He instinctively ducked his head slightly as a few shots flew over his head. Things didn't seem to be going very well for his team.

"Shepard this is a fight worth dying for!" Grunt excitedly shouted as he pulled a frag grenade from his belt and threw it as far as he could over the ditch. There was a deafening bang followed by cried of agony. He then managed to take out two more additional tanks. The loss of heavy firepower did halt their advance momentarily, though not for long as the last two batarian tanks suppressed them while the infantry advanced.

"These guys aren't going to give up." Jacob said. Using his biotics he lifted two batarians and Shepard was able to take them out.

"Son of a bitch," Shepard hissed as a round hit his shoulder. Still being able to fire his weapon, he popped up from behind cover and sprayed shots the advancing batarians. Grunt stood at the same time and, using his fortification to boost his shields, was able to fire two blasts from his weapon. Between the two of them, they were actually able to bring down both remaining tanks and a squad who attempted to rush Shepard's position. However, within seconds a tide of bullets forced them to take cover again.

"Shepard, if you have any clever last second ideas, now would be a good time!" Jacob shouted. "Fuck!" he swore as he was shot in the dead center of his right hand, leaving a blood leaking, and gaping hole. Jacob merely got out a clean rag and wrapped it around his wound and immediately returned to firing at the batarians.

"I'm thinking!" Shepard snapped, attempting to rise up and fire again, only to have a burst of bullets keep him down. He had ordered that Ramirez to ensure the safety of the general and return to base. He was beginning to sorely regret that decision. He looked at his team mates and saw that Jacob's lower half of his ear was torn off and even with his injured hand his determination to hold out as long as possible didn't wane. Grunt on the other hand, firing his heavy machine gun and cutting down dozen of enemies at a time, let out a vicious roar that froze the enemy's heart with fear. He had additional wounds to his face and forearms, but with his heavy armor he wasn't need of immediate medical support like Jacob and him. Getting from his position, Shepard aimed his weapon at the nearest batarain, and in unison the trio fired everything they had left cutting down any batarian foolish enough to step out of cover. For a second the tide seemed to turn.

Then things got worse.

So focused was Shepard that he wasn't aware that the Batarians were throwing in a special set of troopers.

"GET DOWN!" Grunt hollered over the deafening noise of gunfire. Jacob and Shepard followed his command and not a moment too soon as the ground in front of them was overwhelmed by an inferno. Everything was burnt to ash.

'_They have a flamethrower.' _Shepard thought, now realizing what provoked Grunt to take cover. The idea of dying the most painful way possible unnerved Shepard slightly. Dying at the hands of a bullet didn't bother him as the pain would be minimal at its worst, however being burned alive sent a shiver down Shepard's spine. He didn't have to be a mind reader to realize that Jacob and Grunt thought the same way as him.

"If you have a flash bang grenade use them!" Shepard ordered. He and Jacob took their combined total of three grenades and tossed them over the ditch. As soon as the sound of the flash bang detonating and the blinding batarians cries was heard, Shepard's team popped out of cover and fired at the exposed pryo troopers. Grunt using his last frag grenade tossed it into the dead center of pryo troopers. The grenade's explosion acted as a catalyst as all the pryo troopers' fuel tanks exploded burning them and anyone near alive. Their cries of agony filled the air and for a moment everything seemed to revert to silence. However, a stream of bullets caused Shepard's team to get back into cover. Now with the odds more even, Shepard's team managed to suppress the enemy and the open field between the two groups became no man's land as death showered the field with bullets flying back and forth like a hail storm.

It was then that the sound of a mantis gunship's rotors was heard and a few seconds later it appeared overhead, with its gun pointing at Shepard's team. "Hug the wall!" Shepard ordered. As his team did so, a shower of bullets impacted any exposed land. Shepard heard, Grunt cry in agony and saw that the top half of his left foot was completely shot off. At this point, Shepard was beginning to panic, when the sounds of missiles flying through the air was heard followed by a deafening explosion.

Shepard and his team looked up to see that a blue jay had arrived and it was a sight for sore eyes. The shuttle opened fire on the batarian line and within seconds a dozen batarians had collapsed to the ground, numerous bullet holes covering their bodies. Before the Batarians could recover from the surprise, Shepard and his team began firing back and coupled with the blue jay over head, were completely devastating the batarians. The ground soon became littered with their corpses as a stream of yellow poured onto the ground like a river.

After a few seconds of heavy fire, the batarians completely abandoned their positions, running as fast as they possibly could away from the Cerberus shuttle. Shepard's team fired a last volley after the retreating batarians, which managed to bring down a few more of them.

Once the area was secured, the Blue Jay landed and the doors opened to reveal everyone's favorite turian, Garrus Vakarian.

"Shepard, I believe I just saved your ass." He remarked with his usual teasing tone.

Shepard was extremely relieved to see his friend, and assisting Jacob, they limped over to the shuttle's opened doors. "Well I guess that's one point for then. Now you still have ninety-one more saves to go before you catch up to me, Garrus." He coyly replied.

Garrus let out a fake mocked snort as he helped Shepard carry Jacob towards the shuttle. Seeing his friend's wounds, he remarked "Spirits, Shepard. You look like hammered shit."

Shepard let out a laugh. "War will do that to you."

Once they were all strapped in, much to Jacob's hesitation, the Blue Jay lifted into the air. From there Shepard was able to get a airborne view of the city. The city of Superiority was at peace now. Although 'peace' didn't really seem like the right word choice. The batarians had been evicted, but the entire city was in ruins. Shepard could see the damage as the shuttle raised higher into the air. Shepard's mission was done here, but the Cerberus troops stationed here would continue fighting until the entire moon fell under their control. It was likely that with the information now obtained, collateral damage would no longer be a concern for Cerberus. Shepard let out a breath as the shuttle returned to the Normandy.

* * *

**Cerberus Headquarters **

**Undisclosed Location**

The Illusive Man sat at his desk, reflecting over the debriefing that Miranda had sent him. The report was harrowing, and the injuries that the team had sustained would take some time to heal. Thankfully, the Illusive man did not have any assignments critical for the war effort at this time. He imagined that the Alliance was now in session discussing its war strategy.

The Illusive Man eyed his terminal as a new message popped up. It was marked top priority and required the highest level of clearance to access it. The Illusive man brought the message up and noticed that it was a message.

It read:

_To: Redacted_

_From: U_

_As per your request, I've obtained information regarding the council races and analysis of their military capabilities and strategies on how to effectively fight them should they declare war upon us._

_**Asari **_

_The asari military is a mishmash of city-state sponsored elite units by the republics, from their militia groups to their fairly professional navy. Despite the large population asari, few of them enlist for military service, though much larger than human forces. All asari are capable of biotics, therefore presenting a very clear threat._

_Interestingly, with the exception of certain prestigious command positions, the asari military is fairly free of social maneuvering and manipulations of the rest of asari society. This is probably due to the freewheeling, often shifting nature of military deployments, which makes social bonding difficult. The capability of asari leadership is based on merit, therefore their senior ranks are the most dangerous threat and their removal from the battlefield should be top priority._

_**Ground Combat **_

_Asari do not practice attritional or asymmetric warfare concepts within their ground troops. With only a few wars in their history, their ground units focus on scouting, infiltration, and use of small elite tactical forces to decapitate enemy leadership and make use of biotic assisted static defense. Given the overwhelming power of the asari navy, this is hardly a surprise as they have never faced planetary invasion or large-scale wars since the krogan rebellions._

_Asari ground combat follows the idea of guerilla warfare, using small groups to harass and defeat a numerical superior force. They have zero confidence in the ability of large numbers as they rely more on stealth than raw firepower. Their military formations are designed to tie up and occupy and enemy force, whether it'd be pirate assault, invasion, or even simple mercenary fights._

_Split into three ranks, the front rank, under the cover of the rear guard, fight defensively pinning enemies down with biotics and automatic fire whenever possible._

_The middle ranks provide defensive barriers and warp attacks in order to halt the enemy advance. Huntresses and commandos strike swiftly, sowing chaos and confusing within the enemy ranks, forcing enemies to adjust to the multiple lines of attack. Flanking the enemy forces, causes their reserves to become committed in the fight, exhausting their forces._

_Once the enemy is demoralized, the senior ranks of the asari military spring into action. Prior to this point, they hurl powerful biotic attacks towards the enemy ground forces. Once the enemy has committed their reserves, the elite ranks charge, using biotic charge to close the distance, and destroy enemy command structure. They utilize biotic explosions and sniper fire to cover their retreat._

_Once the enemy central command is down, the asari military will use pressure tactics to encourage to encourage routs and retreats, while flanking commandos will rush ahead to set traps and further disrupt enemy fallback._

_Their air force and armored core will assault isolated pockets of resistance in order to divert the enemy forces from the frontlines or risk a gap in their force. However, their gunships and tanks do not stay in one place for long as they engage one group, reducing their combat effectiveness before breaking off and engaging another group. This is to ensure that enemy commanders either spread out, making it easier to target them, or group together reducing mobility and buying time for the asari forces._

_**Navy  
**The asari navy is unmatched in Citadel space in terms of flexibility, efficiency, and armor. They are the only race, aside from humanity, to ever produce a ship larger than 3 kilometers long._

_Asari ships have vastly more effective mass effect cores than any other race, and have seen some improvement due to the aid of prothean engineers. The asari 'Cascade cores' use shifting multiphase mass effect fields, balanced by a team of specialist biotic engineers, to allow faster mass shifting and some sort of short-range FLT jump. These cores allow asari ships to effortlessly dodge most long-range kinetic shots and even some torpedoes._

_The Asari navy also possesses some of the strongest ship armor in existence, along with humans. Silaris armor is incredibly resistant to both laser fire and kinetic shots, requiring numerous shots to break through it. Such armor equipped onto a Destiny-class super dreadnought allows it to stand toe to toe with an Alliance battleship, though they latter still having the advantage in firepower. While the techniques behind making the armor are public knowledge, the expense is massive. Only the asari economy, which controls 57% of the galactic market, is able to manage the expense in manufacturing such armor._

_The flexibility of the asari navy is due to the governing style of the Asari Republics. There is no bickering between the defense departments and the governments, which allows the navy to quickly gain any asset it requires. However, unlike the Alliance or the Hierarchy, most revenue gained by the asari goes not the military, but to infrastructure, research and development, and development of new colonies._

_The asari fleet, as with other races with the exception humans, is built around the power of their dreadnoughts, supported by heavy cruisers and destroyers and light frigates. Much like their ground deployments, asari naval doctrine relies on frigates acting as forward scouts and rapid deployment of strike forces rather than deployment from bases._

_In battle, asari frigates and destroyers harass the enemy and keep them occupied while their dreadnoughts and cruisers line up their shots. Asari do not prefer to engage fully in the fight like the turians, but rather use overwhelming numbers of extremely accurate long range bombardments by frigates, softening the enemy fleet. Their superior heat dissipation and armor allow them to engage longer in battle than other races. Once the enemy fleet is damaged, they go in for the kill._

_However asari ships are not built for endurance in space, in turian and human standards. The elegant design of their vessels means they sacrifice aerodynamics for cosmetics. Most patrols last less than two weeks, leaving gaps in their defenses. They also lack the experience to repel boarding parties and their ships lack the science and research labs in human ships and the intelligence components in salarian vessels. Despite these flaws, asari ships are solid with good damage control and full medical facilities. They also have strong survival and evacuation protocols on all their ships._

_**Strategy **_

_A large scale simultaneous blitzkrieg attack on multiple asari colonies would work best. Their light defenses would be easily smashed and in shock and awe would leave the enemy momentarily stunned. Depending our goal in the war, we can either bombard their planets or hold them hostage to force a truce. The asari will use the economy to hamper us and chances are to reduce losses they will accept and hit us when they have the advantage, therefore complete capture of several of their colonies would be more ideal._

_For naval combat, it would be ideal to engage the asari navy at close range where our ships can still do massive damage while leaving small maneuvering room for the asari ships. Heavy use of corvettes, frigates, and carriers are required to obtain orbital supremacy. The sheer number of bombers and frigates harassing their dreadnoughts will force the asari frigates and destroyers to break off and engage the (redacted) vessels. Our cruisers can protect our carriers while the destroyers engage the asari cruisers and frigates. Their efficiency and armor will be a challenge, however for larger vessels, boarding and capturing dreadnoughts and heavy cruisers are recommended._

_Once orbital supremacy has been established, total annihilation of the asari economy is required to ensure they are no longer a threat. Heavy use of drones, artillery, mechs, and aerial bombardment will weaken and demoralized the asari population. Cyber attacks on their large companies and/or insertion of elite strike teams should be deployed in order to gain valuable technological knowledge and wipe the asari of their advantage. In order to distract the asari elite units, large numbers of troops, tanks, and gunships should be used to distract them. Civilians taken hostage will allow us to use a bargaining chip, their safety for the surrender of the asari military. The asari lack of commitment to deploy their elite units to the frontline will give us a bonues as such individuals, while extremely experience and dangerous, lack numerical superiority. While we can replace our losses, they cannot so complete destruction of the top asari diplomats, scientists, military leaders and soldiers, teachers, historians, and economists must be achieved. The long life span of the asari ensures long-time resentment towards (redacted) so we must ensure they cannot regain superiority._

_**Salarians**_

_The salarian military mind is similar to that of an exterminator. They go about with such precision and efficiency to ensure they do not have to repeat the same task twice. The Salarian military and intelligence, primarily the STG, are too twined together that they cannot be separated. They believe that the idea of declaring war is both naïve and stupid. They only engage in combat once the target has been identified, scouted for weaknesses, scanned for alternative approaches, and indirect sabotage has already been performed._

_The powerful reflexes and high reaction times allow the salarians to outperform all other races in everything, but strength and durability. Therefore their military focuses on three main areas, precision targeting, forward recon, and preemptive strikes._

_The Salarian Union's military doctrine is based on a strategy of defense, but is operationally offensive by pre-empting enemy threats and securing a quick decisive victory. The Salarian Union maintains a heightened state of readiness, advanced early systems, and a robust military intelligence capability to ensure attackers are defeated even before the fighting begins_

_**Ground Combat**_

_The salarian ground forces are typified by four traits- extremely tough defenses, accurate weapons, rapid medical support and heavy use of drones. They are similar to a stiletto, small and utterly not much of a threat, but when used and applied correctly can it bring down the mightiest of forces._

_All salarian military units are designed for one task. While this inflexibility is a liability, when used correctly they are indeed a deadly force. The salarian military fights offensively, yet reactively. They plan every attack after intense scouting and intelligence gathering, and will craft down elaborate strategies that minimize their losses while guaranteeing the maximum damage to their enemies._

_Salarains specialize in cyber attacks and sabotage, making the enemy forces be on guard constantly. Entire salarian units are able to automatically react to flanking or other situations in unison. This is what makes salarians extremely dangerous even in small groups._

_Salarian ground forces are extremely mobile, eschewing fixed defenses. While worthless in a 'stand up' fight whether it be offensive or defensive in nature, they are unmatched in strike assaults, sabotage, and mobility._

_**Navy **_

_The salarian navy revolves around three main areas- heat endurance, range, and damage control. If a fight deviates from the plan, the salarians carefully manipulate events and accurately predict the reaction of the enemy commander in order to achieve victory. (Note: In fact they are able to plan for almost every little detail in a battle, that it is likely that they are aware of us planning effective strategies to defeat them and are counter-strategizing their own forces.)_

_Salarian technology, with the exception of armor, mass drives, and weapons, is well advanced beyond other races (again this excludes humanity as they do not use eezo). They use x-ray lasers and particle beams in their GARDIAN systems, which are linked into a pseudo-neural net of reactive VIs, and possibly a few AIs, optoelectronic sensors, and cybernetic links to salarian gunners. They've managed to create particle beam artillery, stealth tanks, and rumor has it they are constructing a prototype laser rifle, though it has been unconfirmed at this time._

_Salarian focus on heat endurance is unrivaled. Unlike other races, salarian heat sinks are multiphase ceramic liquids that go through energy phase shifts when properly energized. This consumes a great deal of heat energy and excess heat is vented through an array of radial vents, cleverly hidden in the 'wings' of salarians ships. (Note: In order to take this advantage away from them, the use of precise bombers and fighters are recommended to target this area on salarian ships.) They also maintain droplet heat sinks as a backup. They've even managed to reverse engineer a more primitive stealth drive that reduces a ship's heat signatures._

_The salarian concentration on range and speed is common knowledge, as salarians have the fastest ships. While the asari cores are superior in efficiency, salarian cores are superior in range, allowing a ship to perform at least two or three light years beyond that of other drives, with the exception of the humans. In-system thrusters in precise manners are also superior, giving their ships powerful maneuvering and speed._

_In battle salarian ships pair up multiple assault frigates with their fierce destroyers into hunting packs, with scout corvettes doing reconnaissance. Once the target is sighted, the scouts lock up targeting, while frigates and destroyers dive in. With the enemy fleet engage with lighter units sometimes even light cruisers, heavy cruisers and dreadnoughts begin sniping from the sidelines._

_This forces the enemy fleet to break open their battle formations to deal with heavy ships, annoyingly the heavy ships will retreat back continuously fighting weakening the enemy fleet further. At this point, the destroyer/frigate attacks will tear the guts of the fleet, while light cruisers fire on advancing ships, acting like some sort of wall. When the enemy fleet is weakened enough, the salarians deploy their dreadnoughts to destroy any remaining resistance._

_Salarian ships are sculpted in long elegant lines that come to a broad crown in the front and spreading wings in the rear. This design enables them to perform quick strikes and direct assaults at the cost of lack of efficiency in heavy battle._

_Damage control equipment and medical treatment facilities are built into every single ship. They make heavy use of VI automation and mechs to cut down on the requirement of salarians to crew the ships. They are not built to repeal boarding actions as they rely on security stations to prevent this._

_Salarians build their ships to withstand very long patrols. Each vessel has a science lab with mainframe, sensors, and spectroscopes. They also feature intelligence labs, with compilations of intelligence related to their mission and secure data communications with the STG, which at this point we still haven't been able to crack it._

_**Strategy**_

_After much extensive analysis, there is no effective strategy to deal with the salarians as war between them and us results in a pyrrhic victory at best and mutual destruction at worst. Blitzkrieg will not work as the amassing of large number of troops will heighten their awareness and begin preparations for a counter attack. Use of drones and cyber attacks will be ineffective as the salarian are unrivaled in this area. If the salarians are pressed into a corner they will use biological weapons, similar to that of the genophage and the krogans, and we will respond with the use of nuclear weapons. Both societies will be wiped out. While our colonies not located near a mass relay are safe from such attacks, we can expect to lose a total of 37% of our population in the first year of combat alone. The salarian defensive counter measures are extremely tough and their mines guarantee that our ships suffer numerous losses. Likewise our defensive counter measures would obliterate the salarian fleet. In essence neither side posses enough firepower to defeat the other._

_**Turians**_

_The entire race is basically an army. Because of this every member of the species over the age of 15 has some form of military experience. Their weapons are more of a third limb than anything else. The army is so huge, that it is larger than the asari, salarian, human, and batarian ground forces combined; numbering at 1.12 trillion soldiers, excluding reserves. They focus on flexibility as even the smallest unit can call in for air support. Their biotics are grouped together, making them easier to find and harder to kill._

_The fact that the turian army outnumber entire populations and that they practice total warfare, it's no wonder why the threat of turian intervention keeps races in check. Unlike other races, the turians are willing to fight anyone to the last man, to the last rifle, to the last bullet._

_Turians focus on three things, overwhelming firepower, strict unit discipline and effective combinations of forces. As of right now the cleverest turian general would be Adrien Victus as that bastard hasn't lost a single battle. Though his 'recklessness' has caused his career to stagnate a bit, I have a feeling that he doesn't care._

_**Ground combat **_

_The current combat doctrine of the turian army is based on the effective combined utilization of holding formations and strike formations with combined-arms warfare. In the case of an attack, the holding formations would contain the enemy and strike formations would counter-attack to neutralize enemy forces. In the case of an attack, the holding formations would pin enemy forces down whilst the strike formations attack at a point of the turians choosing. The fact that they also bring in heavy firepower and usually outnumber the opposition doesn't hurt either. They sacrifice tactical flexibility and innovation for strategic and operational flexibility and adaptability._

_Turian basic ground combat is based on a combination of arms. Every turian ground force is about 35/35/30 split of infantry, combat armor, and air support. This means that while they have zero advantages, they also have zero weaknesses._

_The turians posses' three unit types: assault, defense, and open. An assault unit is meant to break strong defensive enemy lines. Defense units do the exact opposite; they are placed in strategic locations and are meant to defend ground, which they will do to their last breathe. Open units are the most flexible, as they are when fighting in the field, or when clearing urban areas and/or stations. The breakdown of not only the numbers, but kinds of vehicles, infantry, and air support varies based on these roles. For example, defensive units have more lighter vehicles and aircraft, heavier infantry, while open units have almost all light infantry and heavy aircraft and artillery support. The only liability to their combat doctrine is that they are unable to innovate, for example if outnumbered and outgunned the Turian army will sacrifice entire units to stall the attackers while the retreating forces lay traps to cover their escape. Humans, on the other hand would create weapons from whatever resources they have in the field, such as nail bombs, Molotov cocktails, and even use noises just to annoy and frustrate the enemy. This causes the enemy forces to advance slower and more cautiously, covering less ground and their focuses is drained away from the battle due to the human's distractions. _

_**Navy **_

_The turians have a big gun fixation, as seen by their Giant Mass Accelerator Cannons (GMAC). They have the largest industrial sector, problem is they don't know how to use it to create other things that aren't meant to kill or hurt someone. The turians have the largest military fleet in the galaxy and have the largest amount of dreadnoughts, right now I believe is sixty in total with seven carriers. 65% of the turian naval fleet can be classed as a heavy cruiser or heavier, while they lack scouting abilities I'd doubt that'll be necessary with their firepower._

_Their maneuvering is adequate, while their sensors are above average. Their damage control and supply capacities are extremely impressive. While their medical department is improving to stellar levels, research and scientific labs are nonexistent._

_Contrary to popular belief, the turians have the best and strongest logistics division than any other race, probably because the military needs it to succeed. This allows them to engage excellent in all levels of combat ranging from small to large. With the Volus managing their economy, the turian war machine is nearly invincible. The only real threats they have are the (redacted) and the geth, both of which are machines. Despite not seeing large scale action, the experience the turians have gain never goes away as they literally re-act every battle and would create new ones at SCHOOL! I kid you not, I ask a turian seven year old what he did in summer camp, and do you know what he said? He said, he learned to FIRE A SNIPER RIFLE! WTF?_

_Turian ships are built with a blend of aerodynamics and cosmetics. They have on long center hull, with two wings on either side swept back that clearly mark them as a warship. Even their merchant ships are simple heavy frigates and destroyers or light cruisers with attached cargo-pods, and their freighters are mostly a pair of cruiser hulls cut in half and slapped to either side of a large cargo-pod system._

_While they don't have backups or secondary fallback systems, their power management levels are superb. Their weapons hit harder and their shielding is tougher than almost any other ship class equal size in another race's navy._

_All turian ships have a gym, hand-to-hand combat ring, firing ranges, and a big lounge area. Since all turians are practically soldiers, they rely on Volus, and while they used to rely on the salarians and the asari they are slowly being phased out by humans. I guess they're smarter than to trust the asari and salarians on their ships. Good thing to since they've created the (redacted)._

_Turians go very heavy on forward and broadside firepower, with one class focused on it. They have the most extensive GARDIAN arrays, and their ECMs used to be pretty pathetic, the new (redacted) Alliance VIs being exclusively sold to them has drastically improved it. In fact it would take either a dozen VIs or a single AI to crack through. The human and turian military are so twined together that I'd think they'd be married if they could, which is probably why the salarians and the asari have stepped up their espionage efforts on both of us._

_**Strategy **_

_After countless analysis and scenarios, the results have come out the same. We lose, every single time! The turians, while lacking in some areas, are so strong on things like firepower, logistics, and numbers that any weaknesses we can employ are useless. An attack on the turians would just unite every single one of them. However there is one good thing, because of the extremely good relations and the fact that we are a deterrent to (redacted) they'll most likely attack (redacted) or (redacted), plus our shared hatred of the (redacted) gives something to unite us._

_**Humans **_

_I cannot slip into Alliance space; therefore I recommend all espionage efforts against them._

When the Illusive man finished reading the last sentence, he almost chuckled. He knew that was meant for any wandering eyes that weren't his. While he was smarter than to fully trust the turians, he knew that their honor and good relations with humanity guaranteed a mutual alliance that even he wasn't willing to jeopardize. Despite that it was best to still be careful and be ready for anything. He then had his personal AI, Charon actively guard it.

He was about to retire for the night when suddenly the doors opened to reveal a somewhat tired and exhausted Cerberus communication specialist. This was the Illusive man's personal communications officer and had proved his loyalty to the organization time an time again with no hesitation. It was this commitment that allowed the Illusive man to trust this specialist with even the most vital of information. Panting with breathe, he said "Sir…we have…confirmation….of Commander…Iselk being in the city of Superiority." He finished, gaining his breathe.

The information caused the Illusive man to be absolutely stunned, something that was never heard of. Turing to face the dying star in front of his station, he quietly said "This…changes everything."

"Should we inform Captain Shepard?" the Cerberus specialist asked.

"No. The Collectors are top priority." The head of Cerberus replied. "That'll be all."

"Aye, sir." The Cerberus specialist said as he exited the room.

_'So Ilek, you've managed to find your way of Shanxi. Question is what are your motives now?'_ The Illusive man pondered as he thought over the implications the survival of that batarian has now caused.

* * *

**Uncharted Space**

**Collector Ship **

The creature known as Mortem entered the command deck, where he received a transmission from three unknown figures. Their holograms appeared on screen, but were blackened and were using voice disguisers to avoid being identified.

"Ah, Mortem so kind of you to join us." One of the black figures said with extreme sarcasm.

Mortem growled in response. "Hold your tongue primitive! Your kind hasn't even developed space flight, so do not talk down to me!"

"That may be true, however you still require my agents to assist you on your mission. Otherwise I wouldn't be here."

Mortem was not happy having to deal with primitives. Such acts, he believed were underneath him. However, he didn't dare question the Collector General's orders.

"I assume the one they call Shepard has been dealt with?" One of the other figures said, this time with a slight feminine voice.

Both Mortem and one other figure remained silent. Before Mortem could respond, the other figure beat him to it. "No. Shepard escaped my men, however he was severely injured in the process. The good news is that is time we now have time without risking interference from that pathetic human."

"Well then, I guess we can carry on the next phase of our operation. Mortem, has the gas been developed yet?" the feminine figure asked.

Mortem shook his head. "No. My scientists state that it'll be ready for disbursement in three weeks. Has our target been chosen?"

"Yes. After a brief update by my agents, we believe Omega will be the ideal testing ground. Once the gas is released, your men will attempt to take the asteroid." the large figure said, the same one who had insulted Mortem earlier.

"Then that settles it. Gentleman I'll see you once the next phase of the plan has been complete." The feminine figure said. All users holograms disappeared, leaving Mortem to decide what to do in the mean time.

"Pilot, take us to Hegemony space." he ordered.

His response was only a vibrating sound, which indicated affirmative. Aside from the General, Mortem was the only other Collector able to speak. As his ship approached the mass relay, he had a sudden thought to attempt indoctrination of his kind. He smiled at the thought as his ship vanished in the electric current of the mass relay.

* * *

A/N: Yeah I know I left you guys with a shocking ending. What will be next?


	11. Chapter 11 - Reunion pt 1

**A/N: Just a reminder for my readers, all reviews are welcomed. V-rcingetorix's for example has helped me give you some of the combat scenes and details. Also any plot suggestion will be taken into consideration, as I enjoy having PM conversations with my readers discussing the details of the story. If you have any questions or concerns please PM me.**

* * *

3-22-2184 1237 hours (Citadel standard time)

* * *

**SSV Normandy **

**Corvette**

**Medical Lab**

**En route to Arcturus station**

"What you did Shepard was clearly irresponsible and you needlessly put your life, and those of your team, in danger. What do you have to say for yourself?" Chakwas said, scowling Shepard like a mother. The reason being he had sustained grievous injuries that could have been avoided if he wasn't so focus on completing the mission. This was the fourth time she had lectured him on his injuries and would probably continue to until he was healed or stopped coming into the infirmary. Though now his arm was in a full length cast, it did not bother him much and he still had some movement. He was given pain killers to relieve some of the pain, he still felt a strong stinging and burning sensation from time to time.

"It could have been worse." He sheepishly replied. He knew that as the ship's doctor, and as a critical member of the crew, that Chakwas deeply cared for everyone onboard and especially him, which was why he was often the brunt of Chakwas's infamous lectures on safety.

"Well, Shepard the operation was a success, however I'm more concerned with your physical well being. As I doctor I advise you not to part take in any extraneous exercises for at least another two weeks."

"And by 'extraneous exercises' you mean?"

She gave him a glare that could melt the Normandy's plated armor. "I mean no ground missions until you are medically cleared." She stated with pure authority.

"And what about Jacob and Grunt?" He asked looking over to his two comrades that were being examined by Mordin nearby. Shepard, despite his injuries, was more worried about his two team members who had taken a beating during their escape from the batarian forces.

Before Chakwas could update Shepard on their conditions, Mordin took it upon himself to deliver his diagnosis. "Grunt's injuries are almost completely healed due to his species' unique redundant systems. Krogans are able to handle more pain and damage to their bodies as a result. Would still advise to avoid any more gunshot wounds, such distractions from my work are problematic. As for Operative Jacob, his injuries should take a longer time to heal, but should make a complete recovery in time."

"Well that's good news to me." Jacob proclaimed with enthusiasm.

"So does this mean I can go now?" Grunt asked nonchalantly.

"Of course." Mordin replied, nodding his head. He then turned his head towards Jacob. "You may leave if you wish, however I must insist you either use crutches or a wheel chair."

Over the speakers, Joker's voice piped in. "Hey, don't feel back Jacob. Could always use another crippled pilot over here."

Jacob merely chuckled at the joke. "No thanks, I'll stick to what I know best."

"Getting shot?" Joker seemed to be having a good day, if his constant jokes were any indication.

"How about you focus on flying and they can focus on the ground missions, Flight Lieutenant." Chakwas remarked coldly.

"Uh-h…y-yes ma'am." It seemed even the sarcastic pilot knew not to anger the good doctor.

"If you'll excuse me, Shepard. I must go analyze the Collector sample that Cerberus has sent for studying." Mordin eager to get back to work quickly walked out and headed towards his lab. All the while humming a tune to himself.

"Well at least the ground team is recovering. But we're still down a pilot and I doubt Joker would ever want to leave the Normandy cockpit willingly." Shepard said, trying to think of how they'll be able to get a full-time pilot on such a short notice.

As if on que, EDI's avatar appeared in the room. "Shepard if I may make a suggestion. The reporter that you rescued from the quarian ship seems to have a history in aviation mechanics and has had flight training from the National Aviation Academy on Earth. It seems he may be a suitable replacement."

Shepard merely raised his eyebrows at the turn of events. He glanced at Chakwas and said "Well that's convenient."

"Though his file also states that he was kicked out of the academy when they found that he was upgrading his aircraft outside the academy's regulations." EDI warned.

"Did he ever have any disobedience issues with any of his instructors?" Shepard inquired.

"Outside his retrofitting of his aircraft? No."

"Well that's good enough for me. If you'll excuse me, Chakwas. I have a pilot I have to hire." Before he walked out of the medical bay, he turned around and saw EDI's avatar was still there. "Do you know where I can find him?" Shepard asked.

"You will find him in the engineering deck." EDI said, in a matter of fact tone. It seemed as if EDI only stayed in the room just to inform Shepard where he could find the pilot.

'_Now I see why Joker hates EDI.' _Shepard mused to himself as he stepped into the elevator and pressed the button to go to the engineering deck.

* * *

**SSV Normandy **

**Recreational Center**

"I'm telling you that there is no way that was pass interference!" Kaidan gestured with his fork. He along with Garrus, Zaeed, and Ramirez were all watching the super bowl game between the Chargers and Saints. "If the Saints can score another touchdown in the next quarter, they'll be able to win no problem."

"Bullshit! If the Chargers win their next match, they go through the final with the Jets!" Zaeed stated back, brandishing his knife at the opposing fan. "You just don't want the Chargers to win because they stole the Cowboy's old quarter back!" The outcome of the game determined more than just bragging rights. Each member had a betting pool of ten thousand credits for their preferred teams and chances were it would be getting higher.

Kaidan gasped dramatically before turning to Garrus, who was sitting next to him on the rather luxurious black leather couch. "Garrus, tell Zaeed that I am no longer interested in the conversation."

Garrus merely chuckled before turning to Zaeed. "My compatriot here has decided that he has lost interest in the argument and has decided to ignore you."

"Yeah yeah. I'm not deaf you know." Zaeed grunted.

"Well you are past your prime." Ramirez quipped in.

Zaeed grumbled in response. "Kid, I have more combat experience than you have years in your life."

"I don't doubt it."

They turned their attention to the screen and saw a bunch of black and blue colored padded people running around, one side trying to protect the ball carry the other trying desperately to take him out.

The two football teams have had a pretty strong rivalry for a few years now. They watched as the two teams skirmished around the field, players constantly lunging their bodies in an attempt to stop the other team. A Charger full back with the number 45 was running across the field seemingly unopposed while just 40 yards away from the end field. They watched as a black colored player ran towards the blue colored ball carrier and just a few feet away lunged away lunged his body. His efforts proved vain when the ball carrier, instead of being tackled by 320 pounds of pure muscle, spun to his left and with managed to drive the ball towards another touchdown. The fans on screen cheered at their home team scoring.

Zaeed erupted in a round of cheering as the player and the commentators went crazy. "Now that's how you drive a ball home!"

Garrus and Ramirez toasted their beers in celebrations, while Kaidan skulked as the opposing team scored.

"C'mon Kaidan cheer up. There is still two quarters left." Garrus said. "Maybe they'll fare better on offense."

"I will like to see the Charger's defense try to stop the Saints from scoring."

"Is that a challenge?" Zaeed questioned.

"Ha! Two hundred credits if the Saints manage to score a touchdown." Kaidan replied.

"I'll take that bet." Zaeed said, putting another two hundred credits on the table.

"This is going to be fun." Ramriez told Garrus, seeing how Kaidan and Zaeed bonded over football even though they supported opposing teams.

They turned back to their drinks and the game, laughing as it played out. It was nice, everything considered. Even though there was a galactic war raging around them, even though they were on a warship in the middle of space belonging to a secret military branch, even with their own dreams and personalities, it was nice that four team members could still share a drink and watch sports.

"To all members of the Normandy," Shepard's voice rang out through the ship. "We have docked with Arcturus station and a few crew members will be bringing in supplies. If you have a requisition order, I recommend you list them now."

Once Shepard's transmission ended Garrus got up. "Well I better go and make sure they remember to bring back whatever dextro food and drinks they can find." The other three members paid him little attention, their focus concentration on the game before them. Garrus shaking his head at his companions' lack of interest left the center.

* * *

**Arcturus station **

**System Alliance Parliament Headquarters **

Once the Normandy had exited worm space it appeared fifteen kilometers from Arcturus station, the head of the Alliance Parliament. Governors, Senators, Representatives, and even the Director all met four times a year to discuss major policy proposals from improved social safety nets to increased military spending. The station itself appeared to be a crimson mega-giant star. Having a smooth saucer-like sphere shape. Lights illuminated the exterior all along the docks. If it wasn't for the strong lighting, one could confuse the station for a small moon against the black background of space. The station had numerous docking stations for both military and civilian vessels. Several ships flew gracefully around each other; one small freighter vanished into FTL, leaving a glowing purple light-line in its wake.

Then there were the station's defenses. Orbiting the station were fifteen ion cannons, each measuring 1.3 kilometers tall and 600 meters long; each station is capable of firing 68 kilotons of firepower every four seconds, having six B61 nuclear missiles for anti-capital ship capabilities, and one B41 nuclear bomb capable of unleashing 25 megatons of nuclear firepower. It was retired during the 20th century, however they were reinstated in 2145 with only ten ever built. All the stations were hovering protectively around the massive space station.

And that was just taking into account the station's defenses, not to mention the 23 hornet-class nuclear space mines and the 45th flotilla, a detachment of the seventh fleet. Originally it was supposed to be guarded by the seventeenth and nineteenth fleet, however with the losses the Alliance navy sustained it was decided twenty-one ships would permanently guard the station from attack; two light battle cruisers, twelve heavy cruisers, and seven heavy destroyers

After Shepard had delivered his transmission he had received an order from Head Admiral Hackett on his private terminal. It stated to meet with him at his earliest convenience. Though he did not state any particular reason, Shepard knew something big had gone down or was about two. Navigating his way through the station, and greeting some old time friends, Shepard found himself in a room face to face with Hackett and Anderson. The interior was rather small with a small round table in the center.

"Shepard, it's good to see you again." Anderson said, shaking his long time friend's hands. He then noticed Shepard's left arm was encased in a cast. "What happened to you?" He asked.

"Uh…we had…a bad landing with the shuttle. Some of the ground crew is still recovering, but the majority of us are still combat operational." He replied. His attention was drawn to the one man that had control of the entire System's Alliance Navy, Head Admiral Hackett. Giving the Head Admiral a salute, he said "Sir."

"At ease, Captain." Hackett said. He was not one for formality when the situation did not call for it. He had nothing against it; it was just that he disliked all the Admirals trying to gain his favor by getting on his good side. Unfortunately for them, the only good side he had for anyone was when they showed they had the skills and the courage to lead. "Shepard, I call you down here because we have a major problem."

'_Is there any other type?' _Shepard mused.

"S.A.I.D has been monitoring quarian transmissions, when they picked up some critical information." S.A.I.D or Systems Alliance Intelligence Department was responsible for the espionage and intelligence gathering efforts of the Alliance Navy. "Our liaison to the migrant fleet has been shot down over a geth controlled planet. As you know, up until this point they have been assisting the batarians by conducting raids on Alliance merchant ships. Parliament decided that it could no longer continue and decided to push the Citadel Council to great amnesty for their crimes against the Alliance in exchange for not siding with the batarians." He explained.

"Why haven't we done this sooner?" Shepard asked.

Hackett and Anderson exchanged glances at each other, before Hackett gave Shepard an answer. "Because in the past there hasn't been any reason to since the raiders were often easily driven off," Hackett leaned close as if afraid that someone else might hear the information he was about to divulge. "However, with the Alliance Navy, Army, and Air force coordinating together for a major offensive we cannot risk any disruptions."

"I don't understand Admiral. Any offensive action by the Alliance forces always required the coordination of all the Alliance's branches."

"Not one like this, Shepard." Anderson said. "Having weathered the initial assault, our forces are prepping for an attack on a batarian colony responsible for ship construction on the edge of the traverse. Because we lack numerical advantage, we've enlisted the help of the turians. Fleet Admrial Maximus Palavenus will be the Supreme Commander of what we are calling the Citadel Joint Strike Force. The asari and raloi have pledged military support, while the volus and salarians have offered medical and monetary support."

Shepard let out a whistle. "That is one large force you are carrying towards the batarians. Might be a bit overkill."

"Not this time, Shepard. In all honesty we'll be fighting against a foe that is far more advanced…the Collectors." Anderson said with a face full of grim. Seeing Shepard's shocked face, he continued "I don't know how our troops will react, but we have to try. If they are the Reaper's advanced scouts then the less they know about us the better."

"In the meantime, you focus on getting that liaison to Arcturus station safe and sound." Hackett ordered.

Giving a salute, Shepard responded "Yes, sir. Now who exactly is the liaison I'm supposed to extract and from where?"

Hackett clicked a button and a hologram of a planet appeared. "This is Haestrom. A former quarian colony shortly before the Exodus. Our liaison to the Mirgrant fleet is Admiral Koris. He has been trying to dissuade the migrant fleet from openly supporting the batarians to no avail, until now."

"What changed?" Shepard asked.

"Following a failed raid, one of their Admirals, along with his or her ship, were annexed by the batarians. From what we've been able to gather, the Admiral and the crew have been detained and locked away in of the batarian gulags. It seems this had the negative effect of alienating many quarians from assisting the batarians any further. In order to make sure we have any peace agreement with the quarians, Admiral Koris must survive. Am I clear?"

"Crystal, sir."

"Good. And one more thing, if anyone asks you were never on _Har_."

Shepard nodded his head and left to board the Normandy. On the way there, he established a link with Joker. "Hey, Captain what's up?"

"How long until we are flight ready?"

"Well about thirty minutes after pre-flight checks and another three for flight authorization from Arcturus traffic control. Why?"

"We have another rescue mission."

This seemed to get Joker up and running. He immediately began checking all the prerequisites needed before takeoff. "Hey, Captain. Did they tell you who we're rescuing?"

"An Admiral from the migrant fleet."

"You do realize the irony in that don't you?"

"It'll make a great laugh later, but right now if we don't rescue the Admiral the migrant fleet will continue to assist the batarians and rescuing him will be a hell of an olive branch." He stated, walking quickly back to his ship as he possibly could. A few even raised their eyebrows, seeing a rather athletic man fast-walking across the station.

"So know you are a diplomat, huh? I swear Captain, you were a prodigy in another life. Hey maybe this time, the quarians won't shoot you on site."

"Just get us airborne as fast as you can, Joker" He reprimand.

"Aye, Captain." With that, Joker cut transmission to focus entirely on all preflight diagnostic.

Realizing that his injuries would prevent him from actively serving in the ground team, he knew he could give support over their comms. Still he was aggravated at the thought of having to stay on the Normandy doing nothing while others put their lives at risk.

'_Better get it over with.' _Shepard thought as he reached the Normandy's airlock.

* * *

**Haestrom **

** 200 meters from crash site **

"Prazza, I've got six geth. All standard trooper platforms, I can engage now."

"Copy that, Reegar. It's Lieutenant by the way." A rough growl was heard over the comms. Reegar was neither happy nor was he surprised that Prazza was the one leading the marine platoon. Nonetheless he has managed to avoid feeding him to the machines.

"On my mark." Prazza said, holding up a hand. When he saw the geth platforms were in position he closed his fist and said, "Mark."

Stepping out from behind the wrecked ship they'd been hiding behind, the quarian marine platoon fired a volley of disruptor ammo into the center of the geth squad. The shots fired sliced through all the geths' metallic frame with ease, sparking circuits firing in every direction. Using his rifle, Reegar fired at the rear geth platform, its shield failing followed by an explosion.

"Vexa take out the remaining three." Reegar ordered over the sound of the firefight.

The remaining geth fell upon their fallen comrades, as an explosion from Vexa's missile launcher vaporized the geth platforms.

"Casualty report." Prazza ordered.

"Six geth platforms neutralized, zero losses on our side." Reegar responded.

"Admiral, the area is secured." Over the radio, Koris' voice was heard.

"Good. Get your men back here."

"Yes, Admiral." Facing his men, Prazza ordered "We're heading back to the wreckage site. Be vigilant."

It wasn't a long walk back to the wrecked ship. The _Qwib Qwib_ originally had been designed as an volus heavy cruiser. While the ship had no weaknesses, it also had no strengths. It was an-all round ship even keeled ship, however it was no match for geth missiles. The _Qwib Qwib_ and her two escorts the _Fos_ and _Ity _were shot down and severely damaged beyond repair. When they had arrived they saw the remaining scientists and engineers trying to make repairs to the ship's communications. To Reegar it was all in vain. Right now they had to get out here; no doubt the geth would send a larger force.

Walking over to the repair crew, he was brought to a stop by an all too familiar voice. "Stop," Tali ordered when he was near a bundle of wires. "Something's disturbing the circuitry of all the transceivers."

"And you think you know what it is?"

She grumbled in response. "Not something that can affect electronics on this grand of scale."

"Reegar!" A quarian marine yelled running through the wrecked ship and nearly tripping over some wires.

Reegar recognized the marine. He was young and had showed excellent skill, but was a bit reckless.

"Calm down son. What is it?"

"Geth drop ship!" Within seconds the sound of gunfire could be heard raging outside the ship. Reegar loaded his rifle and Tali did the same with her shotgun.

"And what do you think what you're doing?" Reegar said in a condescending tone.

"Getting ready for a fight." And glaring at him from behind the visor of her mask, she added "And don't try to stop me."

Reegar chuckled in response. "The more guns, the better." He said running behind her, followed by Zio, the young marine.

As they reached the battlefield, they took cover behind a severed wing of the ship. Coming at them were seven regular geth platforms, three geth hunters, two rocket troopers, and they were being led by a geth prime.

"Painting targets," Zio declared, and a flare from his sniper rifle signaled the round that followed. It connected with the face of a regular platform, dropping its shields. Zio tried firing again, but was forced back down by a rocket coming from the rocket trooper. "Keelah, this is going to be difficult."

Tali, using her omni-tool, hacked one of the geth rocket troopers. It soon switched targets and began firing at its allies. One of its rockets hit the other geth trooper and both were destroyed by fired from the opposing sides.

Vexa firing her missile launcher managed to keep the geth pinned down, however they started to use drones to draw fire away from the platforms. "I don't have much missiles left! Any ideas?"

"We hold our ground!" Prazza ordered.

However, a pair of geth hunters appeared right behind the quarian platoon as they cast of their stealth blankets dissipated as a result of their shot-guns firing.

"Behind us!" Cried a marine, but was soon silenced when two rounds from the hunter's shotgun tore right through his armor and shields.

"Everyone switch targets!" Prazza ordered. The entire platoon did as they were ordered and began firing on the pair of geth hunters. Soon their shields dropped and were torn apart from the hail of fire from the quarian line, however the hunters were able to drop the shields of two marine heavy gunners. "Alright now the ot-" A quarian sergeant said as he turned around, only to be met with the sight of a geth prime. It grabbed the marine by his head and with a quick motion of its hands, cracked the neck of the marine. It dropped the lifeless body of the marine, and within seconds was fired upon by the rest of the marines. Unfortunately for them, the prime's shield was too strong. It grabbed the nearest quarian's arms and ripped both of them from her body.

She screamed in agony as purple liquid poured out from her shoulders. She was silenced as the prime's foot connected with her skull and in a display of pure strength stomped on the quarian sending blood and bone fragments everywhere. The marine was unrecognizable as she was completely flattened. To make matters worse, the rest of the regular platforms had soon appeared and began covering the prime.

"Prazza we need to retreat!" Reegar ordered.

Prazza did not respond. Merely shocked by the carnage the prime had unleashed. '_KEELAH! How are we going to take out that thing!?'_

"Alright. First squad, cover our retreat!" Reegar ordered. He knew as well as them that it was a suicide order, but for the good of the scientist and Admiral, they carried out their orders. As 1st squad started to suppress the geth advance, Reegar and the survivors retreated.

The cries of agony from the marines were heard as they were tore apart by the prime and its regulars. As they reached the ship, one the marines yelled in pain as they were shot. Reegar turned around to see, to his horror that not only was the geth force a dozen meters from this position, but were reinforced by a dozen more geth platforms.

"EVERYONE TAKE COVER!" Reegar ordered. Getting into cover he began firing his assault rifle when he noticed a figure in his peripheral vision and saw that it was Admiral Koris firing a grenade launcher. "Admrial? What in the hell do you think you are doing!?"

"Keeping my crew alive, sergeant!" Koris replied.

More geth platforms appeared as they poured fire into the quarian ranks, managing to kill a few riflemen. Still as they took losses, the restlessness machines continued to advanced and refused to retreat. The quarians were forced back, deeper into the canyon. One quarian marine surged forward, tossing a handful of small explosives into the geth ranks to slow them down, however the geth fired at him killing the marine before he even hit the ground.

"Bosh'tets'!" Tali swore as she dropped onto a knee avoiding a hail of bullets. She popped up and down from cover firing her shotgun at the nearest geth. She began trying to hack them, but the prime was keeping them suppressed. Something slammed into her and let out a horrible electronic wail. Tali instinctively drew up her shotgun and fired at the thing reflexively. It's stealth field dissipated and a geth hunter emerged out of thin air. It swung its forearm, hitting Tali across the chest knocking her back. Momentarily stunned, her quickly regained awareness of the situation just before the hunter managed to impale her with a knife. Rolling to her left and bringing up her weapon, she fired her shotgun and was rewarded with a wet impact that blew a mechanical limb of the platform. She finished it off with a shot to the head. Before she could celebrate, a beam of energy hit her frying her shields in seconds. Thankfully Koris and Reegar blasted the geth that was attacking her before it melted through her armor.

"Thanks. I owe you one, Reegar." Tali said as she activated her combat drone and sent it hovering towards the geth. The drone soon began firing at the geth platforms, but the rounds merely bounced off the platforms' shields.

"Don't think anything of it ma'am." He replied.

"We need to move now!" Koris yelled, seeing their losses and feeling responsible for them.

"Roger, Admiral. But right now we don't have any covering fire and those geth aren't going to let us walk away." Looking around he could see that they were severely undermanned. If only more marines had survived the initial crash then they wouldn't be in this position. The geth were aggressively pressing on their position. "Zio I need you to thin out their numbers." Reegar ordered

"On it." Zio looked down the barrel of his sniper rifle as several geth troopers advanced on the left flank and opened fire. A round pinged of the shields on the closest one, alerting the rest to his position. "We are going to need some firepower." He warned.

BOOM! Was his response. With mouth agape behind his visor, he looked down the scope to see that the four geth troopers were in reduced to scrap metal. "I take it they're no longer a problem?" Vexa asked over the comms.

Looking down the scope of his sniper rifle, he saw that the geth prime was ordering a withdrawal, using drones to keep them from advancing. "Sergeant, I think the geth are retreating."

Gasping for breath, Reegar checked the area. All around were craters from explosives, scrap metal, dismembered quarian bodies, and several used heat sinks. He raised her gun and motioned for Koris to follow him. "Admiral, I think they were just testing our defenses. Now that they know that they can easily crush us, they'll be sending a large force."

"Hmm…sure looks that way. Plant charges on the ship. We need to make sure no vital information on the migrant fleet gets to the geth."

"I thought you wanted unity." Reegar remarked.

"Living side by side, yes. However, now is not the appropriate time for information exchanges." Seeing his once proud ship, Koris was hard pressed to see the magnificent cruiser reduced to a smoldering wreck. "They'll be searching for us. Any suggestions?" Korris asked the combat-hardened marine.

Activating his omni-tool, a hologram of the planet appeared. He zoomed in on their location, and brought up outlying areas. "There appears to be an abandoned city 4 clicks from here. I suggest we head over there. We'll need the cover and right now I don't think anyone would want to sleep on the ground."

Reegar's remark caused Koris to look at the horizon and saw that the in a few hours the sun would be going down. "Very well. Salvage whatever supplies you can and be prepare to move out within the hour." Walking away he stopped himself. "Ohh…and one more thing," Activating his omni-tool, Koris tapped some commands and turned his attention to the marine before him. "Congratulations on your promotion, Captain. We'll need men like you in the future."

Taken aback, Reegar looked down at his omni-tool and saw that indeed, he was now a Captain. He saw the familiar figure of Tali' Zorah approaching him. "Ma'am,"

Sighing, Tali crossed her arms. "How many times have I told you to call me, 'Tali'?"

"I've lost count." He replied.

"So what were you talking about with the, Admiral?" She asked.

Reegar showed her his omni-tool and she gasped. "How?" she asked.

"I guess taking command of the situation looked well in his eyes. That and he probably doesn't trust Prazza any more than we do."

Tali chuckled at that. "Speaking of which, where is that bosh'tet?"

Reegar motioned with this head behind her and she turned around to see Prazza ordering the remaining marines to check their weapons, medical supplies, and gather geth parts. "I probably should go over there and make him get his hands dirty."

Tali snorted at that. "Ever since he got promoted, he's been a bigger pain in the neck than usual."

Reegar chuckled at her remark. "Well ma'am, if you were to enlist you'd probably be half way to commissioned officer by now."

She looked back at him. "By my own merit or by my father's orders?" She said with clear distaste.

Reegar cringed behind his visor. He had known Admiral Zorah had always made sure to push Tali harder than anyone else. He remembered the first day that Tali got back with a treasure trove of geth data, the man in question merely praised her as a commander would praise his soldiers, in other words no hug, no affection, no encouragement, just rigid words. "I'm sorry ma'am I didn't mean t-,"

"It's okay Reegar," She stopped him. Sighing she gazed back at the wrecked ship. "C'mon we have a long journey ahead."

Picking up his assault rifle, Reegar followed her back to the ship. On the way there he pulled Prazza aside, showed him his rank, and then ordered him to help the marines gather supplies. The squad snickered at Prazza's shock, and Reegar could practically see that Prazza was fuming underneath his visor. Once everything was salvaged, charges were set on the ship and once they destroyed any sensitive information, Koris ordered his men south to the abandoned city and hoped that reinforcements were on their way.

* * *

**Uncharted space **

**Collector Station **

The Collector General, taking advantage of his multiple limbs, was busy operating numerous command interfaces. He was typing a single command, a single order to his troops, four in particular. He pressed send and the message was delivered to four main locations, Illium, a Collector ship, Khar'shan, and to Mars where a large Cerberus military base was located.

'_Soon these primitives will know of the true strength of our masters._ _Their fear will be our weapon.' _The General thought. Soon information regarding the Reaper's existence will reach every colonized world and it will sow fear in the hearts and minds of the inhabitants of this cycle. The chaos that will ensue will greatly favor their masters and distrust sown into even the strongest of bonds will shatter any hope they may have when the harvest begins. If the General had a mouth he would have smiled at the events unfolding.

* * *

**A/N: Dun Dun Dun. Another shocker ending. What will be next? Also can anyone guess who the four receivers of the collector general's message are? I'm thinking of having a little contest, maybe the prize being a cameo appearance for the winner. If anyone has a guess or a thought on what the prize should be PM me.**


End file.
